Avatar: The Parallels
by Umbreon56
Summary: Twin brother and sister Riker and Kandace are caught in a storm and when they wake up, they find themselves in the world of Avatar. How much of the plot will they change? What characters will capture their hearts? What happens when the show ends? Read to find out!
1. Prologue

"Riker!" An unnecessarily loud voice split the air. A sixteen-year-old girl practically ran the door down as she entered her brother's room. She had frizzy brown hair and ecstatic blue eyes. She was wearing an Adventure Time T-shirt and a Pikachu hoodie. She looked excited. "Will you watch the season finale with me, please, please, pretty please?"

"No." Riker didn't know what show she could have been talking about. It was either Pokemon, Adventure Time, or she was re-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"But I didn't even tell you which show it was!" She protested. She pulled her Pikachu ears down to make it look like they were drooping in sadness. Riker sighed and looked back at his computer screen, where he was busily slicing some zombies on minecraft. "It's your favorite!" She tried to convince him. "Avatar: The Last Airbender! Sozin's Comet: Parts One, Two, Three and Four!"

"I've watched Aang beat Ozai a thousand times… I don't feel like it."

"What about Zuko fighting Azula? That part's interesting too!" The girl continued her fruitless efforts to convince her brother to watch the show with her.

"Kandace, you only think it's interesting because you have a crush on Zuko." Riker muttered. He knew that his sister would keep bugging him until he watched it with her, but he would hold it off for as long as he could. "Besides, I have a butt load of homework to do." Riker explained as he sliced another zombie with his diamond sword. "Level 65!" He exclaimed.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Kandace asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Riker retorted.

"It was a hypothetical question." Kandace stated flatly. "I know that minecraft isn't part of your homework and you know that I won't leave until you watch it."

"You can stay, just don't bother me." Riker replied. Kandace smiled evilly. Riker was too involved in his game to notice his twin's evil smile. His brown eyes remained focused on the computer screen. Kandace slowly walked up to his computer and slammed it shut, pinching his fingers beneath it. Riker let out a shout of pain and glared at his twin. "Fine." Riker snapped. "I'll watch your stupid show."

"Yay!" Kandace cheered excitedly. "Come on, Ryuu!" She cheered. Riker sighed. Ryuu was the nickname that Kandace had given him. She said it was the name he would have if the Avatarverse were real. She also forced him to call her Tikaani. Apparently, it was a water-tribe name that meant wolf. Riker had no idea how she knew, but it annoyed him how much she did know about the show. He sighed for about the fiftieth time and followed her to her room, where there was a TV. She popped a DVD in the DVD player and they began to watch Sozin's Comet, parts one through four. Kandace sat on the edge of her seat the entire time, which was stupid because she watched this episode more than a hundred times before. It was about an hour and a half later when they finished watching all four parts to Sozin's comet and Kandace was sitting there with wonder in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Riker stopped her.

"Don't say it."

"I wish that the Avatarverse was real. I wish that we could go there." Kandace sighed. Riker rolled his eyes.

"And there she goes." Riker grumbled. Just then, Kandace grabbed Riker's arm and dragged him through the hallway, towards the back door of their house. They emerged into their backyard and Kandace looked up at the stars. Riker stood on the back step and watched her rolling his eyes. Kandace turned around.

"If you were a bender, what would you want to be?" Kandace asked. Riker sighed, knowing that a question as important as this was unavoidable.

"I guess I would be a firebender. Fire is pretty… hot." Riker was about to say 'cool,' but that would be a contrary statement. Kandace smiled.

"If I was a bender, I'd be a waterbender." Kandace proclaimed it to the skies. She looked around. Suddenly, a star glimmered and shot across the sky. Kandace was ecstatic. "A shooting star! Ryuu, do you know what this means? Make a wish!" She shouted. She closed her eyes and started mouthing words. Riker knew exactly what words she was going to say. _I wish I were in the Avatarverse._ He sighed.

_Might as well do it just to humor her._ Riker thought to himself. He closed his eyes and began to mouth the words halfheartedly. As his eyes were closed, he thought he saw something flash, like a bright white light. When he opened his eyes, his mouth dropped wide open in shock. Thick black storm clouds were gathering overhead. It didn't make any sense. A second ago, the skies had been clear. This was against the laws of physics and science and other smart stuff. Riker watched in terror as Lightning struck. Kandace was still standing there with her eyes closed, mumbling to herself.

"Kandace!" Riker called. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her, but she stood her ground. The wind was howling in his ear. Leaves and grass were whirling in the wind. "Kandace, we have to get inside! This storm is bad!" Riker shouted. He pulled once again on Kandace's arm. She didn't even seem to have heard him, nor did she notice his hand pulling her arm. She seemed almost frozen, except that her lips were still moving and for some reason, Riker could no longer tell what she was saying. It definitely wasn't wishing to go to the Avatarverse. Kandace seemed to be a completely different person. Riker was getting scared. The wind howled harder.

Branches were starting to fly through the air; small plants were ripped from the ground. Lightning struck the ground, not five feet away from where Kandace and Riker stood. Riker leaped back as the grass caught on fire. A circle of flames completely surrounded them. Just then, the clouds opened up. Rain poured down, but the fire didn't get smaller. In fact, it seemed to be getting bigger. The wind circled around them, and Riker realized that the ground inside their circle of fire was completely dry. It wasn't raining in their circle. As if this wasn't frightening enough, the earth outside the circle started to ripple like ocean waves. Riker didn't know what was going on, but then he realized what it looked like. It was the four elements; fire, water, earth and air.

"Riker!" Riker turned his head back to Kandace. She had returned to normal.

"Kandace!" Riker called through the storm. Suddenly, something compelled him to look up. Kandace looked up too, and the twins screamed as a bolt of lightning came down and struck both of them. They fell to the ground, unconscious. To be continued…


	2. Chapter One: Ice, Snow, and Zuko

Ryuu's POV:

My eyes flickered open to see a dark ceiling above my head. Shadows danced across the walls with light as their partner. I groaned and rubbed my head. It was hurting a lot. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my head was too great and I collapsed onto the bed again. I tried to remember anything, but everything seemed to be a complete blank. There was only one thing I could remember. It was my name. Ryuu.

"Where…" I tried to turn my head a little, just to get a view of the room I was in. At least I could manage that. I was in a small dark room. The only light came from a lamp in the corner. I could see the flames flickering inside. I tried to get a better view. Everything in the room looked so _rich_. It looked so _expensive_. The red and black blankets that were covering me were made of a brilliant silk. There was a rug on the floor with ornate red and orange patterns. The walls were black. They looked to be made of steel and there was a tapestry hanging on the wall opposite of my bed. The symbol of a red flame was sewn into it. It looked pretty good with a black background. The color of the room hurt my eyes. Everything was a bright red, orange, yellow, or it was a jet black. I listened to the sound of the fire lamp crackling for a while, until the door creaked open. I tried to sit up, but I immediately fell back down. "Who…" I couldn't work up the strength to say anything else.

"Lay back down. You are not well." The voice was that of a kind old man. He was standing beside my bed now, looking down at me with concern. Behind him I noticed a boy, about the same age I was. He had a scar on the left side of his face and a ponytail. He was also extremely pale. He seemed familiar somehow… For some reason I couldn't remember who he was, but he was familiar. Now that I thought about it, the old man was familiar to. "You just need a bit of rest and some time."

"Who… who are you?" I managed to ask.

"We should be asking that of you!" The boy with the scar narrowed his eyes at me. He looked me up and down and he sneered. "A spy, sent to gather information on me, Prince Zuko, heir to the Fire Nation throne?" He glared at me.

"I… I don't know who I am." I confessed. "I can only remember my name."

"And what name might that be?" The old man asked, much more kindly.

"Ryuu." I muttered, not even sure if that was right.

"Well, Ryuu," the old man said kindly, "You should be going back to bed. Maybe you will remember more when you're well. I can help take care of you until then." As the old man talked, the teenager snorted and left the room. I sighed in relief. I could tell that he had anger issues and I don't like people like that. "Do not mind my nephew. He has been through hard times." The old man turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called out. I didn't know his name. "I don't know your name…"

"My name is Iroh." He smiled.

"Thanks…" I sighed as I closed my eyes and drifted back into a deep sleep…

Tikaani's POV:

I opened my eyes to see the wide-open sky above my head. Not a cloud drifted by, but I could feel the cold of my body, even under the full light of the sun. _If the sun was out, shouldn't it be warmer? _I thought before sitting up. _Maybe not…_

The world around me was ice. There was ice and snow, everywhere. I stood shakily to my feet and looked around. There wasn't a cloud in sight. I walked across the icy ground. I stopped when I realized that I was on top of a large tower of ice and that there was no way for me to get down. _How the heck did I end up here? _I thought to myself. _Where's_- My thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice.

"Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?" My eyes widened when I heard that voice. I recognized it. I walked over to the other side of the ice tower and looked down. Two people were sitting in a canoe, arguing. They weren't normal people either. They were _anime _people. Then I looked at my hands. I was an anime person. I looked back at the teenagers in the canoe. I recognized them. They were Sokka and Katara from _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. This was unreal… This was _way_ unreal. I was in the Avatarverse! Not only that, but I was starting at the beginning. This was the first episode, _The Boy in the Iceberg_.

"Ugh!" Katara scoffed at her brother. "It's not magic, its waterbending! And it's-" Katara was about to continue, but Sokka rudely interrupted her.

"Yeah, yeah, and it's an art unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah…" Sokka rolled his eyes before he continued talking. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself." I fought the urge to laugh. Hearing it in person was even more funny than hearing it in the show. I suddenly realized that the canoe had passed my ice tower. Their voices would fade soon. I ran and leaped to the next ice tower, then the next, trying to keep up, but this was too slow. Then I got an idea. _Maybe, just maybe…_ I flicked my hand and an ice bridge appeared to the next ice tower. _Yes! I'm a waterbender!_ I continued following the two of them and listening to their troubles.

"You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water!" Katara countered, grinning. Sokka narrowed his eyes and was about to make a retort, but suddenly, they got caught in a current and the canoe sped up. I made my ice bridges skip multiple ice towers just to keep up. I watched as their boat was crushed by two chunks of ice and they were stranded. "You call that left?" Katara jeered.

"You don't like my steering? Well maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice." Sokka explained, making motions with his arms as he did so. "I knew I should have left you home." Sokka continued. "Leave it to a girl to screw things up!"

"You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained- I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" Katara swing her arms back and the ice tower behind her began to crack. Sokka's eyes widened. "Ever since mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!" She shouted.

"Uh… K-Katara?" Sokka started trembling as the ice tower continued to crack and shift. I watched from the sidelines, laughing soundlessly.

"I even wash all of the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!" Katara swiped her arms around, causing more damage to the tower behind her. Sokka stared in horror.

"Katara! Settle down!" Sokka attempted to coax her.

"No! That's it; I'm done helping you! From now on, your on your own!" And that was the final blow. A wave of water crashed over the iceberg behind her. Sokka screamed in terror as it fell to pieces, causing their ice flow to shoot across the water. Sokka looked at Katara flatly.

"Okay. You've gone from weird to freakish, Katara." Sokka spat.

"You mean I did that?" Katara gasped.

"Yup. Congratulations." Sokka stated sarcastically. That's when the water below them started glowing with a bright blue light and I watched excitedly as the perfectly round iceberg emerged from the freezing depths of the ocean. Katara and Sokka stood there staring at it in shock. My pupils dilated and sparkled as I watched the scene unfold. Katara grabbed Sokka's machete and whacked at the frozen air pocket until it broke open and a beam of bright white light shot into the sky. I stared off in a certain direction, where I could see the slightest wisp of smoke from a Fire Navy ship.

"Zuko." I said to myself. I completely forgot about Aang. Quickly I created an ice bridge. Soon I saw Zuko's ship and I got close enough to hear their voices. I mouthed the words as Zuko spoke.

"Finally." He hissed in a gruff and scratchy voice. "Uncle, do you realize what this means?" He turned toward Iroh, who was playing a game. I resisted the urge to laugh as I mouthed everything the exact same time he said it.

"I won't get to finish my game?" Iroh said woefully.

"It means my search. Its about to come to an end." Zuko's golden yellow eyes were filled with excitement, hope and anger. Iroh sighed. "That light came from an incredibly powerful source." Zuko snapped, pointing at it just before it disappeared. "It has to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights." Iroh sighed. "We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get to excited over nothing. Please sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine Tea?"

"I don't need any calming tea! I need to capture the avatar! Helmsman, head a course for the light!" Zuko shouted. I sighed. I wished that I could join him, but then I realized that I might as well wait. Right now, Zuko was a troubled teenager with anger issues. Plus, he is _way_ hotter after he joins The Gaang. This decision was so difficult. Do I introduce myself to Zuko now or wait until he turns good? I sighed… There was no point in joining him now. The Gaang would simply think of me as their enemy. I sighed and made my way back to Katara and Sokka. Surprisingly, not much time had passed. Aang was just opening his eyes in Katara's arms. I seethed as I remembered my deep routes as a Zutara fan. I almost ruined the moment, but then a thought occurred to me. I could have Zuko all to myself!

"I need to ask to ask you something…" Aang muttered weakly.

"What?" Katara asked.

"Please… come closer…" Katara leaned closer.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" He asked excitedly.

"Uh… Sure. I-I guess…" Katara agreed. I sighed. This was BOR-ING. Maybe I could introduce myself now… Wait. No, bad idea! I was still wearing my _Adventure Time _T-shirt and my Pikachu hoodie. I needed to find attire that would suit this era. I looked around. I estimated which direction the Southern Water Tribe camp would be in. I would also need to come up with a cover story for why they'd never seen me before. I had a story though, and with that, I was off. I used my ice bridges to get to the village quickly. Once I was there, I snuck into one of the huts and changed into a pretty snazzy outfit. I had a sky blue coat, lined with downy fluff from baby penguin seals and some warm and comfy snow pants. Also some girl boots. I stashed my real clothes under a polar bear dog rug and slunk out of the tent without anyone noticing. _Well that was pretty_-

"Who are you?" An old voice asked. I whipped around to come face to face with an old woman that I recognized as Kana, Sokka and Katara's gran-gran.

"My name is Tikaani." I told her. "I'm from the Northern Water Tribe, but I fled because they wouldn't let me train as a warrior. I am a refugee. I have nowhere to go." I tried to look sad and I thought I did pretty well. I also knew that Kana would sympathize with me, since she also fled from the Northern Water Tribe.

"Wise choice." Kana nodded at me before walking off. "Follow me. I will show you a place where you can stay." I nodded and followed her to the tent that I assumed was where she lived with Sokka and Katara. "Feel free to lay down for a while." She said. I nodded and lay on the mattress. Only one thought ran through my head. _I'm in the Avatarverse. I'm in the Avatarverse…_ I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep…

Ryuu's POV:

When I next woke up, I felt a lot stronger. I sat up in bed and looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed about the room, except that there was a cup of tea on my bedside table with steam rising from it. I picked it up and took a sip. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted. It was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth.

"Who made this tea?" I asked to myself, expecting no answer.

"I did." I jumped and looked towards the door. Iroh was standing there.

"It tastes great." I told him. "And I feel a lot better, but… I have so many questions. Like how did I end up on your ship?"

"We are searching for someone." Iroh explained. "And we found you knocked out on the ice. You were wearing strange clothes, so I took the liberty of changing you into a Fire Nation Uniform. So… Where are you from?" Iroh asked.

"I don't remember. Everything is a blank, except for my name. I already told you that, though." I tried to remember, but I couldn't. I put my hand up to my face and let out a gasp. The skin on my forehead felt different. "What's this?" I demanded.

"A scar." Iroh explained. "I don't suppose you remember how you got it?" Iroh wondered. I fingered the scar. It was in the shape of a flame, it was right in the middle of my forehead. As I fingered it, I saw a flash of white light.

"Lightning… I think it was lightning." I knew it was impossible. I knew that if Lightning struck someone in the forehead, the chances of him or her coming out alive were slim, but lightning is what I remembered. I looked over at Iroh and by the concerned look on his face I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Sounds to me like you were caught in a rough storm… That, or you had a run in with a powerful firebender." Iroh explained. "I don't suppose you remember your ethnicities, but I can tell from your eyes that you are a firebender."

"Firebender?" I wondered aloud. It seemed familiar. "I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds familiar…" I tried to remember. Iroh sighed.

"I see your knowledge is limited. You lost a lot of memory." Iroh held out his hand and a small flame appeared in his palm. "Firebending is the power to control fire." He breathed in and out, and the fire grew larger and smaller with his breath. He closed his hand back into a fist and the fire extinguished. I watched and something came back to me. I could definitely remember something about the elements. There were three others.

"There are three others, aren't there?" I tried to recall them. "Earthbenders, waterbenders, and airbenders." Iroh looked relieved that I was starting to recall something other than my name. I remembered something else too. I was sure that I was a firebender. "I'm a firebender… I think." Iroh scratched his chin.

"When you are feeling better, we will see. Until then, you need more rest. I will bring in some noodles and tea later. Now, however, I am needed elsewhere."

"Okay…" I sighed and I lay back down, but I couldn't sleep. I sighed again before standing to my feet. I left my room and walked through the halls. As I did so, I soon heard Iroh's voice.

"I'm going to bed now." Iroh yawned. I followed the sound and peered out. He was on the deck, talking to that hotheaded prince. Zuko, I think it was? "Yup… A man needs his rest." Iroh paused, as if waiting for Zuko to do or say something. "Prince Zuko, you need some sleep. Even if you are right and the avatar is alive, you won't find him! Your father, grandfather and great grandfather all tried and failed."

"Their honor didn't hinge on the avatar's capture. Mine does. This coward's hundred years in hiding are over!" Zuko snapped. That's when I decided to step out.

"Who's this 'avatar' guy?" I asked. "And why are you searching for him?" I scratched my head in confusion. Nothing this guy said made any sense. Zuko whipped around to face me. He looked me up and down and started to walk toward me with an angered look on his face. Iroh stepped in his way.

"How dare you mock me?" Prince Zuko sneered. He flicked his hand, creating a small fireball. He looked about ready to throw it, but Iroh stepped in his way.

"He is not mocking you, Zuko. He has lost much of his memory." Iroh explained. Zuko stopped, but there was still a fireball in his hand and a sneer on his face. He looked at me closely before flicking his hand, thus extinguishing the fireball.

"I don't have time to deal with the likes of him anyway." Zuko snapped. "As soon as we get to a proper port, he can be off on his merry way."

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up a couple hours later. After I sat up in bed I walked to the entrance of the tent and looked out. Katara and Sokka were bringing Aang back to the village. He was asleep, and I realized that this part had never been in the actual episodes. _So I'm going through this as if it were in actual time? _I thought. _Awesome!_ I watched as the entire village rushed out to see if Katara and Sokka had returned with food after a day of hunting. Most of them sighed and returned to their tents when they found out there was no food, but a few of them stayed to check out the giant bison they were riding and find out who they had brought home with them. I walked up to gran-gran and looked at Sokka and Katara curiously.

"Who are they?" I asked. She opened her mouth to answer, but just then, Sokka caught sight of me. He stared at me, blinking for a few seconds. Then, he ran up to me.

"I'm Sokka!" He exclaimed, shaking my hand vigorously. "This is my freaky sister Katara, and my gran-gran! And who might you be?" He looked at me curiously. It was as if he had never seen a water tribe girl his age (other than his sister) before, which I knew he hadn't.

"My name's Tikaani. I'm from the Northern Water Tribe." I told him.

"My name's Sokka, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe!" Sokka exclaimed. "Wow, we're both from water tribes, we have so much in common!" I opened my mouth to reply, but then I stopped myself. Sokka was acting weird. Sure, Sokka always acts weird, but he was acting weird-er. That's when I realized… Sokka had a crush on me! This was really bad! Seriously, there are so many A: TLA pairings that I don't agree with, but Sokka and Suki were meant for each other! If Sokka has a crush on me, he won't have a crush on Yue or Suki!

_Maybe if I reject him he'll give up._ I thought to myself.

"Well, welcome to the South Pole." Katara intervened. Inside my head I thanked her vigorously. I nodded to acknowledge her before her and Sokka carried Aang into one of the tents, as he was sleeping. Sokka stopped to wave at me before he entered the tents and I rolled my eyes. I traveled back to the tent that I had slept in earlier and I fell asleep.

Ryuu's POV:

"Wake up." Iroh shook me awake the next morning. Thankfully, he had taken the liberty to tell me who the avatar was before I went to bed last night. Like most of the things I was learning from him, it all seemed vaguely familiar. He had also promised to give me firebending lessons with Prince Zuko. I wasn't looking forward to training with the hotheaded prince, but it didn't seem that I had a choice. "Lets see if you really are a firebender. Get up." I did as I was told. Iroh created a flame in the palm of his hand. "Hold out your hand." He ordered. I did so, wondering what he was doing. Without warning, Iroh chucked his flame towards my hand. I shouted and swiped my hand out of the way, but to my amazement, the flame shot back towards Iroh. He caught it and extinguished it. "Good. Now follow me."

"Okay…" I muttered groggily. Why did I have to get up this early? Seriously, I am not a morning person. Not only that, but I was getting up early just so an old man and his hotheaded nephew could chuck flames at me. _How delightful…_ I thought to myself. Soon we had reached the front deck, where Prince Zuko was already practicing with two guards. He was doing summersaults and kicking flames out of his feet. _I am never going to be able to do that…_ I thought bitterly.

"What is he doing here?" Zuko growled.

"Same as you." I snorted. "Firebending."

"We will start with basic maneuvers." Uncle Iroh stated. Zuko was enraged.

"Basic maneuvers?" He was seething with anger. "He needs to learn basic maneuvers, I need the advanced set!" Zuko snapped.

"You will master the basics first!" Iroh ordered. His statement was definite. Zuko let out a disgruntled sigh before taking on a fighting stance. I did so as well, facing one of the guards. "Try to avoid your opponent's moves, then knock him off his feet with a powerful fire blast." I nodded.

The guard across from me started chucking fireballs. I stepped to the left to avoid the first, ducked to avoid the second, but the third hit me in the gut. I ran over to the side of the ship and hacked up what little food was already in my system.

"Perhaps you are still to weak to be training, even with the basics."

"No, I'm fine." I argued, even though I felt sick. I wasn't usually a people pleaser, but I had a reluctance to let this Zuko character see my weak side, though I suppose he already had. I got back to my feet and faced the guard.

"In order to dodge your opponent's attacks, you must be light on your feet, ready to change direction at a moment's notice." Iroh explained. "Or you get a fireball to the gut." He laughed. "Now, try it again!" He advised. This time I was ready. _Right, left, duck, jump, roll_- I dodged about nine fireballs. I could tell that the guard was running out of breath. Now was my chance. I punched my fist in his direction and a burst of flame knocked him to off his feet. "Great adjustment." Iroh complimented. "Again!"

I sighed and did the drill again. And again, and again… Zuko suffered the same fate and eventually we both lost out patience. I was surprised when we both shouted at Iroh, saying the same exact words at the same time.

"Enough! I've been drilling this sequence all day! Teach me the next set, I'm more than ready!" We both stopped dead and turned to look at one another. Zuko's good eye was wide with surprise, but it narrowed with anger in a few seconds.

"Yesterday you couldn't even sit up in bed!" Zuko shouted. "What makes you think you can move to the advanced?"

"Probably the fact that I'm just as good as you are." I snapped. Fire burned in Zuko's eyes and now in his hands. He was enraged.

"You'll regret comparing yourself to me!" He snapped, chucking a fireball at me. I dodged easily and he chucked another. He was so angry he wasn't even considering aim. He was just chucking fireball after fireball, until he was out of breath from the effort. I smiled and kicked in his direction, aiming for his face.

"Enough!" Iroh bellowed. He knocked the fireball into the ocean before it could get to Zuko. "You will both continue the basic set until you learn to control your tempers!"

"Yes, uncle…" Zuko muttered.

"Yes, Iroh…" I muttered after him. We glared at one another before continuing our drills. _Stupid spoiled prince… _I thought. _Who does he think he is?_


	3. Chapter Two: Snowballs and Hotheads

**Thanks for the reviews! :D**

**Here's an early update for you!**

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up rather late the next day. If only someone would have warned me that being transferred to an anime world would mess with my sleeping schedule. I sighed and sat up in bed, trying to figure out what had woken me up. That's when I heard the panicked shouts and cracking ice. _Zuko's here! _I thought and I ran out of my tent. Zuko's ship had just reached the wall. Slowly, the front of the ship opened up and Zuko walked out.

"Ah!" Sokka screamed as he charged at Zuko. I forced myself not to laugh when Zuko kicked him into the snow bank. A strange silence fell when Zuko walked onto the snowy ground and started to survey the crowd.

"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko asked, scanning the crowd. My pupil's were dilated and my eyes were sparkling as I stared at him. I would have admired him, had he not yanked Katara's gran-gran out of the crowd. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" The faces of the water tribe citizens remained blank as they stared at Zuko in horror.

"I don't know who your talking about," I piped up, stepping forward, "But you're going to leave this place, right now!" I shouted. Zuko glared at me.

"And you're going to stop me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I smiled.

"No." _But I can provide a distraction while Sokka-_

"Ah!" Sokka shouted and began to run at Zuko from behind. I face palmed. Zuko easily dodged this supposed 'sneak attack.' The angered prince shot a fireball at Sokka. Sokka rolled out of the way and threw his boomerang at Zuko. I fought the urge to laugh as I remembered what would happen when the boomerang came back.

"Show no fear!" A little kid shouted, throwing him a whale tooth spear. Sokka caught it and charged at Zuko. Zuko broke the spear in two with his bare hands. He grabbed it and poked Sokka in the head three times, causing him to fall over on his butt. Zuko then broke the remains of the spear in two and tossed the pieces into the snow. I eagerly waited for what would happen next. Sokka's boomerang returned and whacked Zuko on the back of the head. His eyes widened in shock and rage. He didn't know what hit him, but his face was contorted in rage. A torch-like flame came out of his fists. _Fire daggers! _I thought excitedly. Then I realized that he was about to use them on Sokka. I stepped in Sokka's way.

"Not a step closer!" I knew I wouldn't have to attack him. Aang would come in on a penguin seal in three… two… one! Aang went right in between Zuko's legs, sending the banished prince flying through the air. He slid across the icy ground and his helmet landed on his butt. Finally I couldn't help it anymore. I burst into a bout of laughter and tears. Zuko soon rose to his feet. He took in a deep breath and prepared himself as Aang turned around to face him. Aang blew snow in their faces.

"Looking for me?" Aang asked.

"You're the Airbender? You're the avatar?" Zuko asked in shock. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko shouted in rage.

"Well you're just a teenager." Aang countered simply. Zuko blasted fire at him. Aang twirled his glider to counter it. The people of the Southern Water tribe shrunk back in fear. I bent the snow to shield them from the fire.

"You're a waterbender!" Katara exclaimed. I nodded, about to reply, but I decided to turn my attention back to the scene in front of me. I knew Aang was about to offer himself up as prisoner to help the people of the Southern Water Tribe.

"If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone alone?" Zuko seemed surprised that the avatar would offer himself up so easily. He gave a curt nod and I had to admire him. No matter what heights Zuko would reach to capture Aang, he wouldn't break a promise. I watched as Aang was marched towards Zuko's ship, flanked on either side by guards.

"No, Aang, don't do this!" Katara protested.

"Don't worry Katara. It'll be okay." Aang promised. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"

"Head a course for the Fire Nation!" Zuko ordered. "I'm going home!" With that, the ship closed and my beloved Zuko- err… I mean the avatar- was gone. Sokka and Katara stared up as the ship pulled away, sadness in their eyes. Tears were filling Katara's. She slowly walked out towards the ocean and watched the ship disappear on the horizon. Others were fixing up camp.

"We have to go after that ship, Sokka!" Katara said finally. "Aang saved our tribe, now we have to save him!"

"Katara, I-" Sokka began. Katara interrupted him.

"Why can't you realize that he's on our side? If we don't help him, no one will. I know you don't like Aang, but we owe him-"

"Katara!" Sokka returned the interruption. "Are you gonna talk all day, or are you coming with me?" Sokka asked, pointing towards the canoe. Katara turned around. She smiled, called his name, and then gave Sokka a huge hug. "Get in. We're going to save your-"

"I'm coming too." I insisted. They both jumped and turned around. They sighed in unison. Katara opened her mouth to argue, but Sokka vouched for me.

"Let her come, Katara!" Sokka pleaded. "Did you see the way she stood up to that scar-faced guy?" I winced. We would have to get rid of his little crush sooner or later. He had to be with Suki.

"Fine…" Katara grumbled. I don't know why she didn't like me. It might be because I had just met her. She would grow to trust me, just like she would grow to trust Zuko after he joined the group.

"Where do you three think your going?" Gran-gran showed up at the last second. They tried to look innocent. "You'll need these." Gran-gran said smiling. She handed Katara and Sokka a bundle of sleeping bags. There were three in it, I could tell. "You have a long journey ahead of you. They looked at each other in shock. I kind of just sat on the sidelines, knowing everything that was going to happen. I sighed. Knowing everything is a little boring, ya know? "It's been so long since I've had hope, but you brought it back to life, my little waterbender. You, my brave warrior," She addressed Sokka now, "Be nice to your sister." Gran-gran hugged Sokka. "And Tikaani…" I was surprised when gran-gran addressed me. "Keep Sokka out of trouble." She smirked.

"Of course." I snickered.

"Aang is the avatar." Gran-gran continued. I rolled my eyes. This was taking too long. "He's the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his." _And Zuko's…_ I thought mischievously.

"Well, we can't catch a warship in a dingy." I piped up, looking at Sokka's measly little canoe. He seemed offended and opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could, Appa trudged over the hill, grumbling loudly. "Look, its Appa!" I cried. Sokka's face grew a flat look and he narrowed his eyes.

"You just wanna take me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?" He asked. I winked and smiled.

Ryuu's POV:

I sighed and walked through the ship. The usual guards were nowhere to be seen. Something big must be happening. _How come no one ever tells me what's going on? _I wondered to myself. _New guy on board, that doesn't mean I can't know things._ I grumbled to myself as I continued. Finally, a voice met my ears. Too bad it was a voice that I had no interest in hearing.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko stated. I walked out onto the deck and snorted before crossing my arms. His face contorted with rage. "Something funny?" He asked.

"No, just that I thought you were banished and all…" I muttered. Zuko was enraged. That made me smile.

"Go back to bed, you insolent fool!" He shouted, turning his back toward me. I snickered. "Take the avatar to the prison hold!" Zuko sneered. I watched as the guards escorted a twelve-year-old boy off the main deck. I laughed.

"You can't possibly believe that that little kid is the avatar?" I questioned, wiping tears from my eyes. Zuko shoved the staff in my direction.

"Take this to my quarters. Now!" He snapped, getting in my face. We were of equal height and age. He had no right to order me around. Still, I decided not to argue for once. I started grumbling threats and curses under my breath.

"Son of hog monkey…" I walked through the empty halls until I reached what was supposed to be Zuko's room. I carelessly shoved the door open and tossed the staff inside. Suddenly I heard a loud bang and I peered into Zuko's room, but everything seemed to be in order. I sighed and walked down the hall. Just then, I heard shouting and the kid raced around the corner, nearly running me over. I hurled a blast of fire at him as he ran away, but this kid was seriously faster than the wind. As soon as he was gone, I straightened my clothes and continued to walk down the hallway. That kid wasn't my problem.

I made my way out onto the deck. From there I could hear fire blasts and I looked back up towards the angry Prince's room. It was lit like a torch. I laughed and continued to watch. Suddenly, I heard a shout from the helmsman. The kit raced across the lookout post and took a flying leap. _Monkey feathers, what is wrong with that kid? _I thought, but instead of falling, the kid opened his glider and _flew_ I mean he literally _flew_. I thought he was going to get away too, until the crazy, hotheaded prince followed in pursuit. He leaped through the air like an agile wildcat, catching hold of the avatar's foot. He fought to stay airborne, but they crashed onto the deck, almost running me over in the process.

"Watch it, freak!" I yelped, rolling out of the way. I hit the side of the ship and almost toppled over the edge. I turned around to look at the two lunatics. Slowly they struggled to their feet, but as they did so, I noticed a loud roaring in the distance. I looked up to see a giant white fluffy thing flying through the sky. That was when I decided that I had finally lost my marbles.

"What is that?" Zuko asked, looking up at it. _He can see it too. That's good. I guess I'm not crazy. _I thought thankfully. _Unless we're _both _crazy…_

"Appa!" The airbender kid exclaimed gleefully. I sighed in relief.

"Wait, what's an Appa?" I asked. Just then, Prince Zuko blasted a fireball at the kid. He spun his staff, thus reflecting the fireball, and almost falling over the edge of the boat. Zuko wasted no time in blasting him with another fireball. He continued until the kid lost hold of his staff. The kid stumbled backwards. He teetered on the edge of the boat. One more fireball sent him plummeting into the sea. I thought I heard a panicked voice from the white fluffy thing, but I couldn't be sure.

I looked over the edge of the boat, where the kid had fallen in. The sea seemed to swallow him, but just then, a glowing blue light appeared. The kid rose from the water, followed closely by a huge tornado of water. I gaped up at him, my eyes wide with astonishment. This kid really was the avatar! And he was in the avatar state. In one swift motion he swiped a wave of water across the deck, knocking a majority of the guards off the side of the boat. I dropped to my stomach just in time and the water whizzed by. The angry prince fell into the ocean and I chortled.

"Did you see what he just did?" A voice came from the bison. I looked up. There were three Water Tribe kids looking off the edge of the fluffy thing. All three of them looked familiar. _Why does _everyone _look familiar here?_ I thought to myself angrily. I realized that even the airbender kid looked familiar. I watched him collapse after that short display water. The three kids on the fluffy white thing leaped down to see if he was okay.

"Aang! Are you okay?" The younger Water tribe girl ran up to him. The water tribe boy followed, but the third was staring at me. I slowly struggled to my feet and looked at her. She seemed familiar. I know that everyone here seemed familiar, but she seemed more familiar than anyone else. _Who is she? _I thought. As I looked at her, she looked at me too, but she wasn't wondering who I was. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she _knew_ who I was. I would have taken a few steps back, but I was up against the side of the ship.

"Katara? Sokka?" Aang looked at each of them in turn. "Thanks for coming."

"Well I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka said smugly.

"I dropped my staff." Aang said weakly. Sokka got up and went to retrieve it, but when he did, a hand reached out and grabbed the other end. It was Zuko. Sokka let out a shout of surprise. He tried to pull the staff from Zuko's gasp, but Zuko hung on tightly. I laughed when he started poking Zuko in the head with the staff and Zuko fell towards the ocean once again. He couldn't have fallen in, though. I didn't hear a splash.

"Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" Sokka shouted triumphantly. I laughed even harder. The only problem with my laughing was that the young warrior noticed me next. "Do you want some of this?" Sokka asked, pointing the staff at me. I shrugged.

"No thanks, I'm good." I replied.

"Okay, suit yourself." Sokka said. He turned back towards the white fluffy thing and began to retreat. Just as he did so, other fire nation guards began to run towards him. The younger water tribe girl began to bend the water weakly, but the older one skillfully blasted the guards backwards and froze them in ice. They climbed atop the sky bison and flew off. I stood there and watched them go, powerless to do anything.

"Ugh…" Zuko growled. I turned around to see Iroh helping him back onto the ship. "Shoot them down!" He ordered. I shot a fireball towards them, but the airbender kid swung his staff, knocking the fireball into a glacier nearby. I ran and leaped out of the way, just so managing to avoid getting caught in an avalanche of icy rocks. Unfortunately, the hotheaded prince also survived the ordeal.

"Good news for the Fire Lord." Iroh said, scratching his beard. "The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." I started laughing and snorting.

"Well that 'little kid' just trashed your ship, gramps!" I laughed, whipping a tear from my eyes. "Seriously," I continued, looking at Zuko, "You just got bested by a twelve year old!"

"Shut up!" Zuko sneered. "Or I'll make you dig out this ship by yourself!" He growled. I smiled.

"Well if you want it done next month, I'd gladly oblige."

Tikaani's POV:

"How did you do that? With the water?" Katara asked Aang with surprise. "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" I wasn't really paying attention. I was too busy thinking about Riker. I could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't remembered me. He was my brother. How come he hadn't remembered me?

"I don't know. I just sort of… did it." Aang replied.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" Katara wondered aloud.

"Because… I never wanted to be." Aang stated sadly.

"But Aang… The world's been waiting for the avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."

"And how am I going to do that?" Aang asked. I decided that I couldn't let Katara do all the talking.

"You have to master the other three elements in order. First water, then earth, and then fire. So if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending." I reasoned. Katara glared at me. I had just successfully stolen her line.

"You, Katara and I… We could learn it together!" Aang exclaimed.

"Sokka, I'm sure you'll be able to knock some firebender heads on the way!" Katara exclaimed.

"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka smiled. _Firebender heads… _I thought to myself. _Just like Riker's..._ I stared back the way we had come. _I hope he'll be all right. _I thought to myself.

"But before we go…" Aang butted in. "We have some serious business to attend to! Here, here and here!" He pointed to the different places on the map as he addressed them, then he continued by saying what we would do in those different places. That's when I remembered the contents of the next episode. We would be exploring an empty abandoned building. Zuko would be having an Agni Kai with Zhao. We were going to have a boring trip to the Southern Air Temple while Zuko, on the other hand, challenged a master firebender. Not only that, but he would be doing it with his shirt _off_! And I was going to miss it!


	4. Chapter Three: Air Temples and Agni Kais

**Once again thanks for the reviews! Here comes one of my favorite episodes: ZUKO SHIRTLESS! LOL, JK, it's called The Southern Air Temple. **

**But it totally should have been called Zuko Shirtless. XD**

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up bright and early the next morning. Today we were going to visit the Southern Air Temple. I just wished that we would be able to see Zuko too…

"Wait till you see it, Katara and Tikaani! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" Aang exclaimed. It sounded strange to hear him say my name as well, but I accepted it. After all, I was part of the group!

"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home." Katara voiced her worries aloud. I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything.

"That's why I'm so excited!" Aang exclaimed.

"It's just that… A lot can change in all that time." Katara said.

"I know, but I need to see it for myself." Aang replied.

"Aang…" I joined in, not wanting to be left out. "No one has seen an airbender in over a hundred years. I'm not sure if-"

"Just because nobody's seen an airbender, doesn't mean they don't exist." Aang retorted. He opened his mouth to continue, but Sokka's snoring interrupted him. He walked over to the sleeping lump. "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!"

"Sleep now, Air Temple later!" Sokka grumbled, covering his ears. Aang grew a mischievous grin. He picked up a stick and poked Sokka with it.

"Sokka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" He exclaimed.

"Aaah! Get it off! Get it off! Aaah!" Sokka screamed and hopped around in his sleeping bag until he fell over. Katara, Aang and I laughed and he began to grumble to himself.

"Great, you're awake! Let's go!" Aang smiled and Sokka narrowed his eyes. He stumbled to his feet, mumbling and grumbling under his breath. I laughed.

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible! I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." Prince Zuko growled irritably to himself as him and Iroh made their way off the ship. I followed reluctantly. Zuko had not forgotten his promise to drop me off at the first port we stopped at.

"You mean the avatar?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Get away from my ship, and don't mention his name on these docks!" Zuko snapped. "I don't need you or any other firebenders getting in the way!"

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" A voice sounded. I peered over Zuko's shoulder to see a tall, ugly man with big side burns walking toward us. I didn't know who he was, but I didn't like him.

"Captain Zhao…" Zuko trailed off, a bitter look crossing his face. He looked as if he had just swallowed a mouthful of seawater.

"It's Commander now. And General Iroh, great hero of our nation." The 'Zhao' guy gave Iroh a bow of respect. I sneered. Everything about this guy read 'but kisser.'

"Retired General." Iroh corrected, smiling as he returned the bow.

"The Fire Lord's brother, son, and whoever that is," Zhao gestured to me before continuing, "Are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao asked. There was venom in his voice. It made me gag.

"Our ship is being prepared." Iroh replied, gesturing to the ship.

"That's quite a bit of damage." He responded curiously.

"Yes! You wouldn't believe what happened!" Zuko and Iroh seemed incapable of a telling a good lie. "Ryuu!" I started, as Zuko had never addressed me by my name before. "Tell commander Zhao what happened!" Zuko ordered.

"It was incredible!" I faked a face of awe. "We were attacked by an Earth Kingdom ship." I was about to regale him with some thrilling details, but he stopped me.

"Is that so?" Zhao asked. He looked skeptical and he studied my face. "You must regale me with all the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" He asked.

"Sorry, but we have to go…" I muttered in Zhao's face. Zuko and I were both about to leave, but Iroh stopped us.

"Show commander Zhao your respect!" Iroh commanded. Zuko and I both stopped. _Shut up! _I willed Iroh not to accept Zhao's invitation. "We would be honored to join you." Iroh told Zhao. "Do you have any Ginseng tea? It's my favorite." Iroh walked off with Zhao, leaving Zuko and I standing there.

"Any chance that I might be able to get out of this?" I asked Prince Zuko.

"Unfortunately, this meeting is inevitable." Zuko grumbled. Much to my annoyance, we were both made to follow Zhao. He led us to a red tent with a golden fire nation insignia on it. We both sighed.

"…And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule." Zhao finished. I hadn't been listening to a single thing he had been saying. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war."

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" Zuko snapped. I chuckled and guzzled down some tea. Zhao raised an eyebrow at me before sneering. I fought the urge to spit on the carpet at his feet.

"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue." Zhao snickered. "So… How is your search for the avatar going?" Zhao asked. In the background, Iroh knocked over a display of sharp, spear-like weapons. He muttered an apology before Zhao turned back towards us.

"Nothing yet…" I answered the question meant for Zuko. "You, ya got anymore of this stuff?" I asked, holding up my empty cup of tea. Zhao sneered again before ordering the guards to fetch more tea.

"Who are you anyway?" Zhao asked, glaring at me.

"Name's Ryuu." I responded. "Not a coin to my name!" I cheered as I downed another cup of tea. "And this stuff is _really_ good!"

"Pay him no mind." Zuko growled. "We found him floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the ocean. Uncle said we had to take him in until he's feeling better. He should have left as soon as we ported." Zuko glared at me. I shrugged.

"Hey, I don't got anywhere to go. The longer I can hang around and mooch off you, the better my life will be. It doesn't help that I lost my memory, either." I shrugged as tried to defend myself. I refilled my teacup and took another swig. "Seriously, what did you do to this stuff?" I asked. I opened my mouth to continue, but just then another guard came in.

"Commander Zhao! We interrogated the crew as you instructed." The soldier reported. "They confirmed Prince Zuko had the avatar in custody, but let him escape." I scrambled to my feet and spit out my tea in mock surprise. It accidentally sprayed all over Zhao's face.

"That's preposterous!" I exclaimed. "Those earthbenders must have hit them harder than I thought!" I fought laughter. Zhao's face was dripping wet. Tea was running down his face and his side burns were hanging, wet and limp off the side of his face.

"Oh really?" Zhao asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked straight at me. I returned the glare. We looked at each other for a long time. "Then how come each crew member had the exact same story?" Zhao asked. He raised his eyebrows. _Monkey feathers! I didn't think that far ahead. _I searched for the answer, but none came. I sighed and looked at the floor. "Just as I suspected."

Tikaani's POV:

"Hey, stomach, be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food." Sokka snapped at his rumbling belly. He began to search through his bags for the blubbered seal jerky, which was not there. I knew because I had taken the liberty of stealing it before Aang lit the fire last night. I ate the whole bag for breakfast this morning. Devious, aren't I? I smiled devilishly as Sokka continued searching. He finally found the bag and dumped a few crumbs into the palm of his hand. "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?"

"Oh, that was yours?" I asked curiously. I let out a loud burp that tasted- and probably smelled- like seal jerky. "Sorry!" I apologized in a singsong voice. I smirked and Sokka began to mutter to himself.

"You what?" Sokka's face was a mixture of anger and depression. "You've condemned me to starve!" He wailed, shooting me a ruthless and ravenous look.

"Look!" Aang cried, pointing at some mountains that were starting to jut out from behind the clouds. "The Patola Mountain range!" He exclaimed. We were getting closer to the Southern Air Temple. "We're almost there!"

"Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders." Katara began. She seemed nervous to continue. "I want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother. They could have done the same to your people." Katara finished sadly. I tried not to listen, knowing that this was hard for Aang to hear.

"Katara, its just like I told Tikaani this morning. Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean that the Fire Nation killed them all." Aang explained optimistically. "They probably escaped."

"I know it's hard to accept," I butted in, "But I don't think-"

"You don't understand." Aang retorted. "The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison! Right, Appa?" Aang asked, petting him on the head. Appa replied with a loud, low roar. "Yip, yip!" Aang shouted, and Appa picked up speed. He soared above the mountain and I gaped at the temple with wide eyes. This was amazing! Sure, it had looked cool on the show, but now that it was actually in front of me, I was amazed. It was still anime, but it was _here_. It was right in front of me.

"It's so… so… Amazing!" I gaped at the scene before me. Katara and Sokka stared at it in astonishment as well. Aang closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose before speaking.

"We're home, buddy… We're home…" Aang said to Appa. He flew Appa down and we landed near the base of the temple. From there we had to walk up winding paths until we reached the temple. Aang was running faster than any of us. Sokka was trailing behind, muttering about starvation.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked, gripping his stomach.

"You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders ever to visit an airbender temple and all you can think about is food?" Katara asked, giving him a venomous look.

"Hey, I'm just a simple guy with simple-" Sokka was cut off as I stuck out my foot to trip him. He yelped in surprise and landed face first in the dirt. I laughed when he came up spitting out dust and mud. Katara laughed too. Sokka grumbled to himself as he got to his feet. He tried wiping dirt and mud off himself, but to no avail.

"That's where my friends and I play airball!" Aang exclaimed, pointing to different locations on the temple. Katara and I ran up to join him and see what he was pointing at. Sokka stayed behind, still trying to decontaminate himself. "And over there is where the bison would sleep and…" Aang trailed off. Something was troubling him and I knew what it was, but I dare not voice my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked. _Are you dense, woman? _I thought, looking at her.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds." Aang looked around sadly as he took in his surroundings. I had to feel sorry for him. "I can't believe how things have changed…" Aang sighed. Sokka stopped worrying about the dirt and he walked up to Aang.

"So, uh… this airball game… how do you play?" Sokka asked. I had to hand it to him. He knew just what to say to cheer Aang up. Katara and I watched Sokka get blasted out of the game time and time again. Each time was just as funny as the last, if not more so. The seventh time Sokka was knocked out of the game, he landed farther away than he did the last couple times. Aang laughed and cheered. "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt…" Sokka stated miserably. Katara and I giggled, but just then Sokka stopped complaining. He crawled forward and looked at a mask that was lying in the snow. It was a Fire Nation helmet. I gulped before walking over to look at the helmet.

"The Fire Nation." I said. "They were here."

"We have to tell him." Sokka was right.

"Aang, there's something you need to see!" I called, but just as Aang began making his way over, Katara swiped a pile of snow over the helmet. She also managed to cover Sokka with the soft white powder.

"Check out this new waterbending move!" Katara said excitedly.

"Nice one, but enough practicing! We have a whole temple to see!" Aang cheered. I shook my head at Katara.

"He needs to know the truth. Hiding it from him will only hurt him later." I spat.

"He's not ready yet!" Katara retorted. I sighed.

"But you can't protect him forever." Sokka intervened. Katara stuck her tongue out at him like a child. I sighed. We followed Aang up to the temple. The entire way there, Sokka and I were trying to convince Katara to tell Aang the truth. "Firebenders were here, Katara. You can't pretend they weren't."

"I can for Aang's sake. If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

"Guys, I want you to meet somebody!" Aang called. I looked over to see the statue of Gyatso. I wondered how a statue would stand for a hundred years without being eroded, but then I remembered that this was an anime, so real science didn't apply.

"Who's that?" Sokka asked.

"Monk Gyatso." Aang replied informatively. "The greatest airbender in the world! He taught me everything I know." I resisted the urge to say 'so… not much?' because that would be rude. I sighed, knowing Aang was about to have his flashback. As soon as he spaced out, Katara and Sokka looked at each other, confused.

"What's he doing?" Sokka asked. Katara shrugged.

"He's probably thinking about the memories he had with Gyatso…" I trailed off. Even though I knew the truth, I couldn't say that Gyatso was gone out loud. Aang might hear me. After his flashback, we were going to go to the Air Temple Sanctuary, where there was a chamber of statues for all the previous avatars.

"You must miss him." Katara said as Aang's flashback ended.

"Yeah…" Aang muttered. He began to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked.

"The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet." Aang explained. Katara and Sokka looked at each other, confused. I faked a curious face before following Aang. He led us through the halls, until we reached an odd set of double doors.

"No one could have survived in there for a hundred years." I said. "It's not physically possible."

"It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long." Aang stated.

"Good point…" Katara agreed.

"Whoever's in there might help me figure out this avatar thing!" He exclaimed.

"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious, cured meats!" Sokka started to charge at the door, but I grabbed him by the ear and dragged him backwards. He complained loudly.

"The Air Nomads were vegetarians." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "No one is going to have any meat." I let go of Sokka's ear and the first thing he did was charge toward the door, as if he hadn't heard a single thing I'd said. Sokka started pushing it.

"I don't suppose you have a key?" He wondered, turning to Aang.

"The key, Sokka, is airbending." Aang took a deep breath as he prepared to blast air at the door. Sokka scrambled out of the way and Aang used his powers to push the doors open. "Hello? Anyone home?" Aang asked as the four of us walked into the open doorway. I sighed this was so boring… Zuko would be challenging Zhao to an Agni Kai by now.

Ryuu's POV:

"So a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your firebenders. You're more pathetic than I thought." Zhao sneered. Zuko glared at him, hatred in his eyes.

"I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again." Zuko snapped.

"No it will not," Zhao agreed, "Because you won't have a second chance."

"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the avatar for two years and I've-"

"And you failed!" Zhao shouted angrily. He swiped his arm to the side and a stream of fire followed it to show that his statement was definite. He would not let Zuko get in his way. "Capturing the avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now." Zuko leaped out of his seat, charging at Zhao. Two guards immediately came to restrain him. "Keep them here." Zhao ordered.

"Afraid we'll try to stop you?" I sneered. Zhao ignored me and left the tent. As soon as he was gone, Zuko kicked over a tea table. "More tea please!" I called. The guards left to fetch us some more tea. "How hospitable!" I exclaimed. Zuko turned his head and glared at me. Zhao returned a short while later.

"My search party is ready." He informed us. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go." I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to punch this guy in the face.

"Why?" Zuko asked. "Are you worried I'm going to try to stop you?" Zuko sneered. I resisted the urge to protest the fact that he kind of stole my line. I also got mad when Zhao reacted to him, but not to me. He was laughing.

"You? Stop me? Impossible." Zhao chuckled evilly.

"Don't underestimate me, Zhao." Zuko sneered. "I will capture the avatar before you!" He snapped. Iroh stood up to calm Zuko down, but I remained seated.

"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" Iroh tried to calm him, but to no avail.

"You can't compete with me." Zhao continued. "I have hundreds of warships under my command and you- you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you."

"You're wrong! Once I deliver the avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor… And restore my rightful place on the throne!" Zuko finished triumphantly.

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, avatar or no avatar." Zhao growled. "But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true!" Zuko protested pointlessly.

"You have the scar to prove it." Zhao countered. Zuko let out a shout of rage before rising to look at Zhao, face to face.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" He challenged. Everything about him screamed anger. His fists were clenched and his eyebrow was lowered. His good eye was a slit, almost matching his scarred one.

"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asked.

"An Agni Kai!" Zuko shouted. "At sunset."

"Very well." Zhao agreed. "It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle, and your peasant pet will do." Zhao smiled before lumbering off. Iroh walked up to Zuko.

"Prince Zuko! Have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko replied. I gulped before walking over to Iroh.

"So what happened to Zuko?" I whispered. "What did his father do to him? Who gave him his scar? What's an Agni Kai?" Iroh opened his mouth to respond, but Zuko cut him off.

"Shut up, peasant." Zuko sneered. "Isn't it about time you left?"

"Very well…" I moved to take a few steps towards the entrance, but the guards wouldn't move out of my way. "Or not…" I sighed. _Looks like I'm stuck with him for a while longer…_ I thought.

Tikaani's POV:

I stared around at all the statues. They were all extremely tall. Every footstep echoed in the cavernous space.

"Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?" Sokka asked ungratefully. I pushed him to the ground. "Hey, what was that for?" Sokka asked.

"Being annoying." I replied.

"Who are all these people?" Katara asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" I wondered aloud. They looked at me curiously, so I elaborated for them. "These are all the past avatars. They're Aang's past lives. You see they're lined up in a cycle. Air, water, earth and fire... It's the avatar cycle."

"Wow!" Aang exclaimed. "There are so many of them!"

"Past lives? You really believe in that stuff?" Sokka asked, annoyed.

"Its true!" Katara and I protested. I let Katara continue. "When the avatar dies, he's reincarnated to the next nation in the cycle." She explained. A little ways away, Aang was staring at the statue of avatar Roku.

"Its avatar Roku…" He said, sort of dazed. "The avatar before me."

"You were a firebender?" Sokka asked. "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met!" He concluded. "Wait a minute, how did you know his name?" Sokka asked. "I don't see any writing."

"I'm not sure… I just know it some how."

"You just couldn't get any weirder!" Sokka protested. Katara and I rolled our eyes. We were staring at the statue, but suddenly, I heard a noise. I knew that it was just a lemur. Of course the others were dumb enough to think his shadow was a firebender. They jumped behind statues and remained hidden, but I stayed in plain sight. "Tikaani, hide!" Sokka urged. I shook my head.

"It's just one firebender. We have two waterbenders, an airbender, and Sokka. We can take him." I knew it was just a lemur, but I really loved playing hero. Of course, that would probably not always be a good thing. It might end up getting me captured, which I couldn't help but think sounded like a fun experience. I mean being captured is scary and all, but not as much when you know someone will come to rescue you.

"She's right!" Aang agreed and he jumped out. "Ready on one… two… three… Wait!" Aang almost blasted air, but he watched, as the shadow grew smaller. Suddenly, a lemur peaked around the corner and into the room. "Lemur!" Aang cried excitedly.

"Dinner!" Sokka chimed in, drooling.

"Don't listen to him!" Aang coaxed. "You're gonna be my new pet!"

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka cried, leaping out from behind his statue. The two began the high-speed chase and the lemur fled. Katara and I watched, shaking our heads. It was a short while after they left that the statues' eyes started glowing.

"Aang!" Katara cried. We both turned and fled the air temple sanctuary. We ran through the halls until we reached the spot where Aang was hovering far above the ground. A tornado of air circled him and the wind lashed us with card, sharp tongues. Katara and I grabbed hold of a rock formation to keep from being blown off the mountain.

"What happened?" Katara asked Sokka. He was clinging to the same chunk of rock that we were clinging to.

"Aang found out that firebenders killed Gyatso!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh no! It's his avatar spirit. He must have triggered it. I'm going to try and calm him down!" Katara explained.

"Do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka cried. The winds seemed to pick up just as he said that and his fingers were slipping. "Help!" I grabbed one of his hands and helped him hold on to the rock formation. _Hurry, Katara!_

"Aang, I know you're upset. I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! I went through the same thing when I lost my mom!" Katara looked down before she looked back up at Aang. "Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Tikaani, Sokka and I… We're your family now." She finished. The winds seemed to lessen and Aang floated back towards the ground. He stood on the ground, his arrows still glowing.

"Katara, Tikaani and I aren't going to let anything happen to you." Sokka said to Aang. "I promise." Katara grabbed Aang's hand. His arrows and eyes stopped glowing. He wasn't upset anymore. Now, he was just sad.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay." Katara soothed him. "It wasn't your fault."

"But you and Tikaani were right." Aang whispered mournfully. "And if firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones too. I really am the last airbender." Aang closed his eyes sadly. Katara hugged him and Sokka put his hand on Aang's shoulder. I put my hand on his shoulder too. This was depressing.

In a little while, we were ready to leave. Momo gave Sokka some much needed and appreciated food. We all started laughing when the little lemur stole a piece of fruit from Sokka. Then we boarded Appa and we left the Southern Air Temple. Aang stared back at it as we left and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Ryuu's POV:

"Remember you're firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapon." Iroh was speaking to Zuko before the battle was to start.

"I refuse to let him win." Zuko snapped. The sun was setting. When the two faced each other, they were both shirtless.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked Iroh.

"Yes. It is tradition for firebenders to fight an Agni Kai with their shirts off." Iroh explained. "Unless one of the firebenders is a girl. Then the male must keep his shirt on as a sign of respect."

"So what exactly is an Agni Kai?"

"A fire duel." He told me.

"So they're going to chuck flames at each other until one of them falls over?" I needed to clarify things.

"Yup, pretty much." Iroh concluded. I snorted in laughter. Iroh motioned for me to be quiet before the actual chucking began.

"This will be over quickly." Zhao grimaced as he faced Zuko. A guard rung a gong and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments. Zuko chucked the first fireball. Zhao dodged it easily. Zuko shot a couple more and Zhao faced these, easily fending them off. Zuko kicked a line of fire at him and he firebended it out of his way before shooting his first fireball. Zuko kicked more flames in Zhao's direction, but the commander shot flames out of his hand to block them. The Prince had thrown so many blows he was beginning to pant, but Zhao had only just warmed up.

"Basics, Zuko!" Iroh shouted. Zuko glared at Zhao, not seeming to hear Iroh. Zhao blasted a fireball, but Zuko shrugged it off. Zhao stepped forward and aimed another one. This one was stronger, but Zuko shrugged it off, although this time, the blast pushed him back a couple inches. Zhao shot two more, each twice as powerful as the last. Zuko tumbled and skidded across the dirt.

"Come on, get up!" I cheered. I hated Zuko, but I hated Zhao more. He slowly tried to sit up, but when he looked up, Zhao was jumping straight towards him. He let out a gasp of surprise as Zhao landed in front of him. Zhao blasted fire straight towards Zuko's face and I thought for sure that he'd have a matching scar on the opposite side of his face. But the prince pulled a surprise move. He pushed himself up on one hand, twisted in mid air and swiped Zhao's feet right out from under him. Even after the mid-air twist, Zuko managed to land on his feet. He pushed Zhao backwards until the commander landed on the ground. Zuko stood over him and aimed a fist at his face, but he didn't let loose any flames.

"Do it!" Zhao sneered. Zuko shot a fireball at him, but he hit the ground behind Zhao's head instead. "That's it? Your father raised a coward."

"Next time you get in my way, I promise… I won't hold back." He said before turning around to walk away. I watched in silence. _He should have done it. _I thought. _He should have given that snobby commander what he deserved. He should have_- I stopped. I was looking at Zhao, and he was rising to his feet. _Oh, no you don't!_ I thought. I ran in front of Zuko and blasted the fire backwards. I hadn't even realized that Iroh was right beside me. Iroh pushed Zhao to the ground. Zuko growled and rushed forward. He would have given Zhao that scar right then, but Iroh jumped in front of him.

"No, Prince Zuko! Do not take your victory." Iroh told him. Iroh turned around to face Zhao. "So this is how the great Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more _honorable_ than you."

"Yeah, so go crawl back to the hole you came from, you filthy rat viper!" I snarled. It felt good to insult him, but then I remembered the tea. "And thanks for the tea. It was delicious." I was surprised that Iroh and I said the same thing at the same time. Zhao gave us no further problems as we left the arena.

"Did you really mean that, uncle?" Zuko asked.

"Of course. I told you ginseng tea is my favorite." Iroh said.

"I'd say jasmine is mine, but ginseng comes at a close second!" I piped up. Zuko turned around and glared at me. He opened his mouth to say something. Iroh cut him off.

"Perhaps Ryuu should stay with us for a while." Iroh said.

"What?" Zuko and I both asked. We looked at Iroh in astonishment, and then we glared at each other. "Why would I let him stay on my ship?" Zuko snarled.

"He can come as a benefit to us." Iroh said. "He has proven himself to be an excellent liar and a strong firebender. He would come in handy."

"I'm right here, ya know." I chimed in. Zuko didn't seem to notice.

"I suppose you're right. He can stay." Zuko's eyes narrowed at me. "But if you don't pull your weight around my ship, you'll regret it." He growled. I shrugged.

"I can do that." I agreed. It's not like I had anywhere else to go. I followed the two aboard their ship and we sailed off. _Maybe I'll be able find out something about my past while I'm traveling with them. Like how I ended up in the middle of the ocean. And maybe I'll remember something…Something about where I came from_…I thought to myself. My memory was limited now, but I was starting to wonder about my own family. _Where are they?_


	5. Chapter Four: Flashbacks on Kyoshi

**Chapter four! I added a bit of my own stuff to this chapter, so I hope you like it! Thanks for all the great reviews, they really help!**

**Shoutout to Smoke- Great reviews, thanks for pointing out my errors! Could you please stop calling Ryuu and Tikaani amnesia boy and squealing fangirl, though? I mean... I post their names at least two or three times in ever chapter. Couldn't hurt to use them. :)**

Tikaani's POV:

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked, looking at Aang.

"Well… I know its near water." Aang replied. I let out a snort of laughter.

"I guess we're getting close then!" I mumbled sarcastically. For miles, the only thing we could see was water. I searched across the horizon for any sign of Zuko's ship. My efforts were futile, as his ship was nowhere to be seen. I know what you're thinking, but I wasn't looking for Zuko this time. I was looking for Ryuu. I didn't want Aang, Katara and Sokka to think of him as an enemy the entire time. If I could just get him to switch sides right now…

"Stop bugging her, airhead, you need to give girls space when they're doing their sewing." Sokka interrupted my thoughts. I realized that I had missed Aang's marble trick.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked irritably.

"Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things." Sokka explained. I rolled my eyes. He'd find out soon enough when the Kyoshi Warriors kicked his butt on Kyoshi Island.

"All done with your pants!" Katara exclaimed. "And look what a great job I did!" She cheered, showing Sokka the gaping hole in the side of them. She hurled them at his face.

"I-I was just kidding, I can't wear these, Katara, please-"

"Relax, Sokka! Where we're going, you won't need any pants." Aang chimed in. I couldn't help but notice Katara's look of terror and Sokka's confused face. Suddenly, Appa began to fly downwards. We all landed on a snowy, mountainous island. It was Kyoshi Island. The others jumped off of Appa's saddle, but I continued to relax with my feet propped on the edge of the saddle.

"We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka asked.

"He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring."

"But Appa's tired already. Aren't ya boy?" Aang asked, looking at Appa. Appa stood there and made a slight, small grunt. "I said 'aren't ya boy?'" Aang nudged Appa and he opened his mouth to let out a huge yawn.

"Yeah, that was real convincing. Still… Hard to argue with a two ton magical monster." Sokka stated. Aang cheered and he leaped into the lake. I couldn't resist the urge to watch as I peered over the edge of the saddle. Aang was riding the elephant kois, but soon, the unagi showed up. I completely ignored him, as I already knew that he was going to be fine. It disappeared as soon as Aang was out of the water.

"What was that thing?" Katara wondered aloud.

"Well let's not stick around to find out." Sokka grumbled. "Time to hit the road." I ducked down in the saddle when I saw the Kyoshi Warriors jump down from the trees. They made quick work of Aang, Katara, Sokka and Momo. "Or we could… stay awhile…" Sokka muttered.

"Not so fast!" I yelled as I leaped off of Appa's saddle. I opened the waterbending pouch that I had attained from Katara and Sokka's gran-gran. I tried to make a water whip, but we didn't have the waterbending scroll, so I didn't quite know how. The Kyoshi Warriors tied me up too. I sighed. "Well that wasn't a waste of time at all." I said to myself. They carried the four of us back to Kyoshi Village.

"You three have some explaining to do." A grumpy voice said. I wanted to take my blindfold off, but I was incapable of doing such a thing when my hands were so tightly tied.

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi." Suki's voice shouted.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka snapped. They ripped off our blindfolds and Sokka stared at them, wide-eyed. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka asked.

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down." Sokka laughed.

"A bunch of girls, huh? The unagi's gonna eat well tonight!" Suki snapped, grabbing Sokka's coat and getting in his face.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it!" Katara protested.

"Yeah, he's just an idiot!" I added on.

"Hey!" Sokka complained. Suki let go of him.

"Its my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi." Aang explained. The old man was not impressed.

"How do we know you are not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far and we intend to keep it that way!" He stated firmly.

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang exclaimed.

"He's the avatar." I butted in, before they asked any more questions. I just wanted to get these uncomfortable ropes off of my hands.

"That's impossible!" Suki retorted. "The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!"

"That's me!" Aang smiled.

"Throw the imposter to the unagi!" The old man ordered. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors prepared their fans.

"Aang… Do some airbending!" Katara muttered urgently. Aang responded by kicking a blast of air out of his feet. The crowd gaped at him with wide eyes and surprised faces.

"It's true!" The old man gasped. "You are the avatar!"

"Now, check this out!" Aang exclaimed. He took out his marbles and started airbending them in a circle. He then turned toward the crowd and smiled. They began cheering loudly. One of them even began foaming at the mouth until he passed out. I chuckled. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors cut the ropes binding us and we were thankfully not fed to the unagi.

Ryuu's POV:

"Zuko!" I slammed open the door to his quarters. He looked up at me and narrowed his eyes.

"You better have good reason for interrupting us!" Zuko snarled.

"Okay, first of all, I brought you your dinner, second of all, would it kill you to say please or thank you?" I asked. Seriously, I don't even know if this stupid prince knows _how _to say the word 'please', or 'thank you', or 'your welcome'.

"Ryuu is right, Prince Zuko. You must practice your manners." Iroh agreed. "I can demonstrate for you, if you wish. Ryuu, would you please put the fish on the table?" Iroh asked me. I was more than obliged to do as he asked. "Thank you, Ryuu." He said, dipping his head. I dipped my head to him in turn. Zuko glared at us with an angry look plastered onto his face. I snickered.

"Now _please_ leave us in peace." Zuko sneered the word please, but at least he was improving. Of course, I couldn't leave quite yet because I still had a certain bit of information to tell Zuko.

"And I needed to tell you something. Hm… What was it, what was it…" I pretended to be trying to remember it. "Oh, yeah, the avatar is on Kyoshi Island."

"The avatar is on Kyoshi Island?" Zuko asked as he rose to his feet. "Ryuu, ready the rhinos! He's not-"

"What's the magic word?" I asked tauntingly.

"Please ready the rhinos!" He snapped viciously before heading towards the door.

"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh asked, pointing at the roasted fish. Zuko stomped back in and took the fish.

"I was going to save for later!" He shouted unnecessarily before leaving the room. Iroh crossed his arms and pouted. I fought the urge to laugh as I left the room to prepare the rhinos.

Tikaani's POV:

I woke up the next morning and peered out the window. The people of Kyoshi were cleaning up the statue of avatar Kyoshi. I ignored the sounds of eating behind me. Katara and Aang were stuffing their faces. I wasn't hungry. What was Ryuu doing right now? Was he still on Zuko's ship, or did Zuko throw him overboard? I knew how ruthless Zuko could be. If Ryuu didn't do what Zuko told him to do, there was no telling what could happen. It didn't help that Ryuu and Zuko were both stubborn sixteen-year olds with anger issues. Not the best combination.

"Sokka? Tikaani? What are you guys' problems? You gotta eat!" Aang exclaimed.

"I'm not hungry." Sokka grumbled. I sighed before walking over and eating some of the food. It tasted good, but it didn't help me feel any better.

"But you're always hungry!" Aang exclaimed.

"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." Katara stated smugly.

"They snuck up on me!" Sokka shouted.

"Right. And then they kicked your butt." Katara replied.

"Sneak attacks don't count!" Sokka cried. It managed to make me laugh a little. "Tie me up with ropes…" Sokka muttered, getting to his feet. "I'll show them a thing or two…" He stomped over towards the door, but before he did, he walked back to the table. "I'm not scared of any girls… Who do they think they are, anyway?" He snatched some things off the table and shoved them into his mouth. "Mmm... This is tasty…" He mumbled as he stomped away.

"What's he so angry about?" Aang asked "Its great here. They're giving us the royal treatment."

"Hey, don't get too comfortable." Katara cautioned. "It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long."

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!" He exclaimed happily.

"Don't let it go to your head." I warned, popping into the conversation.

"Come on, you both know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk." He said before walking to the window. A crowd of girls cheered when he waved at them. _Simple monk, my butt…_ Katara stuck out her tongue.

After that, they followed Aang around everywhere. It was so creepy. I of course, was helping Katara shop for groceries and other things that we would need for the trip to the North Pole. She confided in me that she hadn't trusted me at first because outsiders rarely ever came to her village. I agreed that I probably wouldn't have trusted her if I had met her in the Northern Water Tribe.

"What's it like there, anyway?" Katara asked.

"I don't really know…" I confessed. For some reason, I seemed not to be in control of what I was saying anymore. "We left when we were really little."

"We? You mean you and your family? What happened to them?"

"I don't want to talk about it…" I sighed. As soon as I had finished talking, the inability to control what I was saying left me. It was an odd sensation. I tried to figure out what it meant, but I could only think of one thing. It was impossible, but it was the only thing I could think of. _I'm getting woven into the plotline. _I thought. _I have a script now that I'm in the show. That means… I'm going to actually have a past here, and I'm going to remember it. Maybe that's what happened to Ryuu. He forgot his past in the real world and now he has a past in the show._

"Well… If you ever need to talk about it, you can talk to me." I nodded. She walked away and I knew immediately after that, a flashback would come. I closed my eyes and let it. I needed to know what my past was on this show. This was the only way…

It was an icy cold winter day. A small breeze could send chills up and down my spine. We were following someone. She was a tall woman with brown hair. She was swearing Water Tribe clothing, but her skin was pale white, unlike anyone else in the Water Tribe. I could see her breath, but that wasn't because of the cold. It was because her breath was smoke. She was a firebender, but she was much more than that. She was my mother.

"Why do we have to come out here to train, mommy?" I asked in a childlike voice. Our mother stopped to look at us.

"We cannot train near the village. Woman are not aloud to know how to waterbend, and they cannot find out that Ryuu and I are firebenders." I looked next to me, where Ryuu was standing against the wind. He seemed confident, ready to fight, ready to practice his firebending. I got into a stance and prepared to practice waterbending. I bent very small amounts of snow while Ryuu shot tiny fireballs from his fist. We were young, only about five years old, so we weren't the strongest of benders.

When our mother took us back home, we found out that someone had been watching us. They had discovered the secret of my mother's firebending, and that Ryuu was a firebender as well. The three of us were banished from the Northern Water Tribe.

I opened my eyes and the flashback was over. _So that's why we left the North Pole, but why is Ryuu with Zuko? We left the North Pole together. We must have been split up along the way. _I pondered further. _So where are our parents?_ I sighed and tried to forget the flashback for now. I needed to focus right now, focus on helping Ryuu get his memory back. I walked down the stairs, but stopped, as Katara and Aang seemed to be having an argument.

"Katara… remember how the unagi almost got me yesterday?" Aang asked.

"Yeah." Katara seemed not to care. She remained focused on playing with her water. I remained silent as I watched the scene unfold.

"Well… I'm going to go ride it now. It's gonna be real dangerous."

"Good for you." Katara muttered.

"You're not gonna stop me?" He seemed almost disappointed.

"Nope. Have fun." Katara grumbled.

"I will." Aang snapped.

"Great." Katara retorted.

"I know its great." Aang responded.

"Well, I'm glad you know."

"I'm glad you're glad."

"Good."

"Fine!" Aang shouted unnecessarily before stomping out of the room. He caused Katara to lose concentration on her waterbending. The water sloshed back into the bowl and Katara stared at the ground bitterly. I tried to sneak down the stairs without her noticing, but I stepped on a creaky board and she whipped around to face me.

"Where do you think you're going?" She snapped.

"I need some time to myself." I replied. My voice sounded distant. I left the room and headed down towards the beach. Once I was there I climbed a tree and looked out over the ocean. Zuko's ship would arrive as soon as Katara saved Aang from the unagi. Right now all of Aang's fan girls had left and Katara was standing on the shore, waiting for Aang to swim back.

"Well get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!" She exclaimed. Aang smiled from ear to ear. He had just started to swim back when the unagi showed up. Aang was swept into the air by the enormous creature. I was reminded of a shiny Rayquaza.

"Get out of there!" I cried, sliding down the trunk of the tree. Aang tried, but the unagi fired water at him and he had to struggle to hold on to the great beast. The unagi snapped at him and Aang managed to avoid getting eaten by grabbing onto one of the unagi's whiskers. The beast thrashed its head around, trying to loosen Aang's grip. Eventually he succeeded. The young monk was thrown through the air. He crashed onto the water and floated there, motionless.

"Aang!" Katara cried. She charged into the water to save him. By the time she got to Aang, the unagi had reached them. She created a huge wave of water to wash them to the shore, where the unagi wouldn't be able to reach them. He sprayed water at them, but suddenly, the unagi left. I ran over to the rocks they were hiding amongst. "Why did the unagi leave?" Katara asked. I looked out at the bay. A black Fire Navy ship was approaching the dock.

"Zuko…" I muttered.

"Who's Zuko?" Katara asked in confusion. I realized that she had not yet heard Zuko's name mentioned.

"The scarred firebender who tried to capture Aang at the South Pole."

"How do you know his name?" Katara wondered.

"He's the prince of the Fire Nation. Everyone knows who he is." I explained to Katara. "He's probably here for Aang." I watched nervously as the ship opened on the shore and a bunch of komodo rhinos charged out of the ship. _Now is my chance to confront Ryuu._

Ryuu's POV:

"I want the avatar alive!" Zuko ordered.

"Wouldn't it be easier if he were dead, though?" I wondered aloud. "Think about it. If he's alive, then he can escape. If he's dead, he can't do anything to stop us." I took pleasure in Zuko's enraged face. He hated when I questioned him. I would never actually think of killing someone, though.

"If he died, he would just be reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. If we keep him alive and imprisoned, he won't be able to bother us." Zuko snapped.

"I knew that." I chuckled. Zuko sneered at me from atop his rhino. I stuck my tongue out at him from atop mine. He narrowed his eyes and turned forward, concentrating on searching for the young avatar. He stopped his rhino after we passed the weird statue and looked around.

"Come out avatar!" He called. "You can't hide from me forever!" Nothing moved. Zuko looked around, but no one showed himself or herself. If I hadn't seen people peeping out the windows, I would have thought the island abandoned. "Find him!" Zuko ordered. I kicked my rhino to make it move forward. I looked at the buildings, searching for a sign of something. I noticed a flash of something white down a narrow alleyway. I jumped off the saddle and walked into the alleyway. At the end, sat a lemur.

"Stupid lemur." I snarled. I wondered if he'd make a good snack. "How good do you taste?" I asked.

"He's not food." I spun around to see a Water Tribe girl standing there. Her skin seemed a bit lighter than normal water tribe skin, as if she wasn't pure Water Tribe. That's when I realized that I recognized her. She was traveling with the avatar and she was the one who seemed familiar.

"Who are you?" I stormed. I needed to know.

"You really _don't_ know then, do you?" She whispered. She seemed slightly hurt. _Who is she?_ I racked my brains, but I couldn't think. I couldn't remember.

"No!" I admitted angrily. "I don't think I do."

"Look into my eyes. Look into them, then tell me that you don't know who I am!" She demanded. I looked into her bright blue eyes, but I was drawing a blank.

"I have no idea who you are!" I snapped, but I did not tear my gaze from her eyes. They were searching mine as well as I was searching hers, but still nothing came. I stared into them for a moment longer. Nothing.

"Try harder!" She insisted. I closed my eyes and looked away. For a split second I saw an image of ice and snow. A girl and a boy around the age of six were sitting around a pile of sticks. It was an unlit campfire.

"I'm cold, Ryuu." Her voice echoed in my head.

"Don't worry. Watch this." The boy held out his hand and a flame appeared in it. He lit the sticks and warmth filled the air around them. They snuggled closer, but then the vision faded.

"Do you remember now?" She asked.

"Yes… No… I don't know!" I wailed.

"Please, just-"

"No!" I interrupted her. "Leave me alone!" I flicked my hands and they became alight with flames. I hurled a fireball at her and she waterbended a string of water from her pouch to block it. As soon as the flames hit the water, however, the water popped like a bubble and fell to the ground.

"I see." The girl mumbled to herself. She didn't try to attack me again. _She's just too scared of my firebending skill! _I thought, but what the girl said next ended up scaring me more than any bending skills. "Goodbye, Ryuu. Next time, I will not take it easy on you." With that, the girl walked out of the alleyway. _How did she know my name? _I thought as I trudged out of the alley to see that most of the buildings were burned, and some of the firebenders were unconscious.

"Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered. I jumped atop my rhino and charged back to the ship, stopping to pick up unconscious soldiers on the way. As we made our way back to the ship, a giant black serpent sprayed water on the village to put out the fire. Zuko narrowed his eyes and grumbled to himself about getting his uniform wet. He continued to do so the entire way back to the ship and I chuckled. "Return the rhinos." Zuko ordered. Surprisingly enough, he was not talking to me. I began to trudge towards my room, which was directly across from Zuko's. Iroh had ordered Zuko to allow me to stay there.

"Who was she?" I asked myself as I closed the door. "And how did she know my name?"


	6. Chapter Five: Spiritual Difficulties

Tikaani's POV:

King Bumi was even crazier than I had imagined him. I wished we could have stayed in Omashu for a while longer, but we had to leave. We encountered Haru and his father's prison break took up a lot of time. I assumed that Zuko had picked up Katara's necklace by now, as she had lost it during the prison break. We couldn't worry about that now, though. We were once again a hundred percent focused on getting to the North Pole.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara wondered out loud. "Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap."

"Maybe you should give it a try." Sokka mused. Katara narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're hilarious." Katara mumbled sarcastically.

"I'll try it!" Aang exclaimed. He grabbed his glider and leaped from Appa's back, right into a particularly large bunch of clouds. In a few moments he returned, soaking wet. "Turns out clouds are made of water." He stated, airbending the water out of his clothes. Katara and Sokka stared at him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked, directing my attention to the ground. Part of the forest we were flying over was charred and burned, like an old scar. It reminded me of Zuko. It reminded me of Ryuu.

"Its like a scar…" Sokka muttered. I sighed.

"Yeah… a scar…" I trailed off. The others didn't seem to notice how out of it I was. We all flew down to the burnt forest and walked around.

"Listen… It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere." Sokka looked around. He noticed the tracks that obviously belonged to komodo rhinos. "Fire Nation!" He exclaimed. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

"Shut up, Sokka!" I shouted. He glared at me, but then I pointed at Aang. He looked at Aang. The young monk was sitting on the ash-covered ground. He sighed.

"Why would anyone do this?" Aang asked. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen." Katara soothed as she walked closer. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Yes it does!" Aang retorted. "It's the avatar's job to protect nature. I don't know how to do my job." Aang muttered morosely.

"That's why we're going to the North Pole. To find you a teacher." Katara continued. I could tell she was trying her hardest to cheer him up.

"A waterbending teacher. No one can teach me how to be the avatar. Monk Gyatso said that avatar Roku would help me." Aang muttered.

"So you just need to find a way to talk to Roku." I stated simply. Sokka and Katara stared at me like I was an idiot. "What? Its not impossible." Sokka made a circular motion with his finger to signify that I was 'coo coo.' Katara rolled her eyes. As she did so, she noticed an acorn sticking out of the ashes. She rushed over to pick it up.

"Hey, Aang… Are you ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked.

"No…" Aang grumbled. Katara chucked an acorn at Aang's head. "Ow!" He yelped in pain. "Hey, how is that cheering me up?" He asked bitterly. Sokka chuckled.

"Cheered me up." He stated. Katara chucked an acorn at his head. "Ow! Yeah, I probably deserved that…" He admitted.

"Wait, those are acorns!" I exclaimed. "They grow into trees!"

"That means that the forest will grow back." Katara explained. "Every one of these will be a tall oak tree some day. And all the birds and animals that lived here will come back." She handed Aang the acorn. He took it and examined it before smiling.

"Thanks, Katara." Aang said. Katara smiled, but she let out a gasp as she heard footsteps and a man walked up to us.

"Who are you?" I asked, even though I already knew.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible!" He said.

"Weird. Usually when people see things, they consider them possible." I ducked as Katara chucked an acorn at me. "Hey, that's dangerous!"

"Those markings… Are you the avatar, child?" The old man seemed not to have noticed my rude comment. Aang nodded. "My village desperately needs your help!"

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle, it's time to leave, where are you? Uncle Iroh!" Zuko shouted. I followed him and rolled my eyes.

"Is that shouting really necessary?" I asked. Zuko shot me a glare before calling out for his uncle once again.

"Over here!" Iroh called.

"Uncle?" Zuko echoed himself. I looked around him to see Iroh relaxing in a steaming hot spring. "We need to move on! We're closing in on the avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him!" He grumbled irritably.

"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Iroh asked.

"My troubles can not be soaked away!" Zuko snapped.

"Mine can!" I cried. I began to take my shirt off, but Zuko grabbed my arm and pulled me backward. "Oh, come on, I wanna soak away my troubles!" I complained loudly.

"It's time to go!" Zuko stormed.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little." Iroh smiled. "The temperature is just right. I heated it myself." Iroh informed before blowing smoke out of his nostrils and causing steam to drift over to where Zuko and I stood. Zuko swiped his hand and cleared the smoke.

"We need to leave _now_!" Zuko complained. "Get out of the water!" He ordered.

"Very well." Iroh agreed. He stood out of the water and Zuko's immediate reaction was to turn his head and block the view with his hand. I simply closed my eyes and wished I hadn't seen what I'd just seen.

"On second thought… Why don't you take another few minutes?" Zuko turned around as he walked away. "But be back at the ship in half an hour or I'm leaving without you!" He almost left me there, but just before he left he grabbed the neck of my uniform and dragged me back to the ship.

Tikaani's POV:

The old man led us to his village. I looked around at the dilapidated buildings that had been destroyed by the Hei Bai. He took us to a large building that I assumed to be town hall. The four of us followed him inside and looked around at the villagers. They all seemed distraught and wary. I knew that I had to help them.

"This young person," the old man began, "Is the avatar!"

"So the rumors of your return are true! It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence." Another man said as he walked up. Suddenly I felt like everyone was staring at us. I shivered slightly.

"Nice to meet you too!" Aang mused. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure…" The strange man trailed off.

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" The old man reasoned. He turned toward Aang to continue. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He's Hei Bai. The black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka inquired.

"We do not know." The young man stepped in. "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"The solstice? But when the solstice comes, the borderline between the natural world and the spirit world is blurred almost completely.

"The Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen." He finished, looking sadly at the sun, which was dropping lower into the sky, even as we spoke.

"So… What do you want me to do exactly?" Aang wondered.

"Who better to resolve a crisis between the natural world and the spirit world than the avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits."

"Right… That's me…" Aang seemed so unsure of himself.

"Hey, great bridge guy? Can I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara butted in. Aang looked at us before walking over. "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all this."

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the spirit world. Its not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

"Can you really help these people?" I asked.

"I have to try, don't I?" Aang looked away. He sighed before continuing. "Maybe whatever I have to do will just come to me."

"I think you can do it, Aang." Katara chimed.

"Yeah…" I trailed off.

"We're all going to get eaten by a spirit monster, aren't we?" Sokka added. I elbowed him in the stomach causing him to double over in pain.

"Man up." I spat. Sokka pouted at me. I laughed.

"The sun's setting." Katara whispered. Aang gulped and sighed before he walked out of the building. I watched from the window, powerless to do anything. _Maybe I should get trapped in the spirit world instead of Sokka._ I thought to myself. _I really want to know what its like there…_

"Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me?" Aang called feebly. "This is the avatar speaking. I'm here to try to help stuff." Aang whispered.

"This isn't right." Sokka muttered.

"We shouldn't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up." I piped in. I was definitely getting captured in Sokka's place.

"If anyone can save us, he can." The old man promised, stepping forward.

"He still shouldn't have to face this alone!" Sokka countered. I watched as darkness fell over the village. The Hei Bai was still nowhere to be seen.

"The sun is set. Where are you, Hei Bai?" Aang called. The monster did not reveal itself. "Well, spirit, uh… I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" He spun his staff before turning around to walk back to the village. Unfortunately for him, that was when the Hei Bai leaped out of the woods. I gaped at it. It was much bigger in person than it was on a TV screen. Aang continued walking towards the building for a little bit before he even realized the Hei Bai was there. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around. "You must be the Hei Bai spirit!" Aang smiled. "My name is-" He was interrupted as the Hei Bai blasted him with a ray of blue light. "My name is Aang! I'm the avatar and I would like to help! Hey, wait up!"

The Hei Bai completely ignored Aang. It proceeded to smash buildings and evaporate things with blue light. Aang chased after it and tried to talk, but the Hei Bai didn't even acknowledge him.

"It doesn't seem to interested in what he's saying." Sokka fretted.

"We need to help him!" I butted in.

"No! Only the avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai." The old man bleated.

"I command you to turn around now!" Aang shouted. That seemed to get the Hei Bai's attention. With one brutal swipe, he sent the young airbender flying through the air. Aang smacked against a roof and slid onto the ground.

"That's it, I'm going whether you like it or not!" I snapped, leaping out of the window. Sokka followed in pursuit.

"Sokka, wait!" Katara cried. She grabbed Sokka's arm.

"What about Tikaani?" Sokka tried to break free of Katara's grasp, but the old man was holding him back too.

"Hey, Hei Bai!" I cried. "Turn your dirty hide around and fight me!" I bent a string of water out of a nearby water trough and tried to whip the Hei Bai with it. This did not work out as I lost control and only managed to get the Hei Bai soaking wet. That only seemed to anger him.

"Tikaani, go back!" Aang shouted.

"No! We'll fight him together!" I stated definitely.

"I don't want to fight him unless I-" Aang was cut off by a scream as the Hei Bai grabbed me and started to race away from the village. Aang immediately whipped out his glider and flew towards the forest.

"Tikaani!" Sokka shouted. He finally broke free of Katara's grasp and he ran out towards the forest, stopping when he reached the gates of the village. "Tikaani…"

"Aang!" I called out. "Help!" I knew I was going to end up in the spirit world, but I had to act convincing. I reached out my hand, but just as Aang grabbed it, the natural world disappeared and a spiritual blue mist surrounded me.

Ryuu's POV:

"Uncle!" Zuko's enraged shouts echoed throughout the forest.

"Uncle, uncle!" I mocked Zuko. He turned around to glare at me before he continued his search. He swiped a branch aside and walked towards the now empty hot springs that Iroh had been soaking in earlier.

"Uncle Iroh, where are you?" Zuko asked, looking around.

"Look at those rocks!" I exclaimed. "There was a landslide."

"Land doesn't slide uphill." Zuko hissed.

"Oh, oh yeah… I knew that!" It was an obvious lie. "So wait, what happened?"

"Those rocks didn't move naturally. My uncle's been captured by earthbenders!" Zuko sneered. My mouth dropped open.

"But how could any earthbender capture the great Dragon of the West?"

"Shut up. Bring me a rhino!" Zuko ordered. I nodded and ran off as fast as I could. I prepared two rhinos and hopped atop one. I guided the other along side me. When I returned to Zuko, it was almost sunrise. "Why do you have two rhinos?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Because I'm coming too!" I explained.

"Fine." Zuko snapped. He was finally learning that I didn't take no for an answer. We headed off, following the ostrich horse tracks. The sun had just risen when Zuko stopped. A sandal was lying on the ground. He hopped off his rhino and sniffed it, before getting a disgusted face. "Yup, that's uncle Iroh."

"A sandal, lying in the middle of the road… Sure, just take a whiff!" I muttered sarcastically. Zuko narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. We continued on our way.

It was about midday when Zuko looked up at the sky. His eyes widened and I looked up curiously. A white bison flew through the air. It was the avatar. "The avatar!" Zuko pulled on the reins to turn the rhino around, but I pulled in front of him.

"What are you doing? We have to save your uncle!" I urged. "What's more important? The avatar, or your uncle's life?" For a few seconds, Zuko looked from the sky bison to the ostrich horse tracks. Then he looked at me.

"Follow the avatar's bison!" Zuko ordered. "Tell me where he's heading, then go straight back to the ship. Don't try anything stupid." He turned around and stomped off in the direction that the tracks led in.

"Hurry up, you stupid-" I began to try to rush my komodo rhino, but it looked up at me with red eyes. "I mean… Take as long as you want, you magnificent beast!" I followed the sky bison back to some stupid village. I waited until the sight was engraved into my memory before I rushed back to the ostrich horse trail. Luckily, there wasn't much distance between the two. Plus, I convinced my rhino to move faster so I doubled my time. I arrived just in time to see Prince Zuko kick a rock away from Iroh. I leaped down, landing on the chain in such a way that it snapped in two.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko, and Ryuu too." Iroh complimented.

"You taught me well." Zuko said, smiling slightly.

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." I advised before examining the situation. Three firebenders surrounded by five earthbenders. We were outnumbered… But not outmatched.

"Its five on two. You're clearly outnumbered."

"Ah, that's true… But you are clearly outmatched." Iroh smiled, flicking his arms so that the snake-like chains bound to them looked like whips. All at once, the earthbenders attacked. Iroh fended off boulders with his chains, Zuko kicked fireballs at some of the soldiers and I punched fireballs at others. Soon it was just the leader of the guards and us. He hurled rocks at both Zuko and I. We swerved and dodged, snuck in a couple fireballs, then swerved and dodged some more. He fended our fire off with his hat shield, and then raised a wall of earth into the air above us. Iroh's chain wrapped around one of his feet. He pulled the earthbender backwards, causing the rock wall to collapse on top of the earthbender.

"Now would you please put on some clothes?" Zuko asked. I laughed.

Tikaani's POV:

The spirit world was awful. I was trapped in a thick fog no matter where I ran; I couldn't find any people anywhere. I was alone with my own thoughts. The fog did something funky to my head. I started thinking crazy. Luckily it didn't last long and soon I was back in the real world.

"What happened?" I was way discombobulated.

"Tikaani!" Sokka exclaimed. He ran up to me and I had to duck to avoid a hug.

"You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty four hours." Katara explained.

"Whoa… I gotta pee." I stated flatly before walking off. I came back refreshed and relieved. The village was gathered to say goodbye.

"Thank you, avatar." The young villager thanked him. "If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done."

"You could give us some supplies! And some money!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Sokka!" Katara scoffed, glaring at him.

"What? We need stuff." Sokka replied simply. I fought the urge to laugh.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey." He bowed before walking off.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do all on your own." Katara complimented. Aang smiled.

"Actually, I did have a little help. And there's something else. I need to talk to Roku and I think I found a way to contact his spirit. There's a temple on a crescent shape island. If I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him." Aang finished.

"The solstice is tomorrow!" I cried.

"Yeah, and there's one more problem. The island is in the Fire Nation."


	7. Chapter Six: Avatar Roku

Tikaani's POV:

"Let's go, Appa, come on, boy!" Aang tugged on Appa's reins, but the Sky bison let out a roar of protest before sitting down. "Look, I'm sorry, but Katara, Sokka and Tikaani aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"

"Go where, exactly?" I asked, walking out of the shadows. Aang jumped and whipped around. I smiled and walked out of the shadows, Katara and Sokka following me. "You can't go to the Fire Nation alone."

"The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation." Katara added. "And neither can I…"

"But I have to talk to avatar Roku to find out what my vision means. I need to get to the fire temple before the sun sets on the solstice. That's today!" Aang jumped onto Appa's head. Appa began to walk forward, but Katara and Sokka stepped in front of him. While Aang was distracted I climbed into the saddle.

"We're not letting you go into the Fire Nation, Aang!" Katara shouted.

"Unless we can come to." I chimed in. Aang whipped around to see me lounging in the saddle with my feet propped against the edge.

"We've got your back." Sokka continued. Momo flew over to Aang and the young airbender smiled. Appa licked Sokka. "Ewe!" He cried. Katara and I laughed and we made our way onto the saddle. A young man stopped us and handed us some supplies before wishing us luck on our journey.

"Yip, yip!" Aang called, flicking Appa's reins. The bison lifted into the air and we began our journey to the crescent shaped island.

Ryuu's POV:

"Is this the place?" Zuko asked, looking around at the smashed houses. The only building still a hundred percent in tact was the large building in the center of the tow, which appeared to be the town hall. This was most definitely the place.

"Yeah. He was here." I replied. I didn't know why Zuko was so obsessed with finding the avatar, but Iroh had just convinced him to start paying me! Sure, it was only a little, but it was better than what I have now- nothing. Prince Zuko leaped down from his komodo rhino and started prowling around the town. He looked around at the ruins. "And it looks like he got into a fight with someone while he was here." I observed.

"Hush!" Zuko snapped. He was looking toward the town hall. He slowly walked over and just as he did so, the door opened. A villager stepped out. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw the Fire Nation Prince standing there. "Having trouble sleeping?" Zuko asked. He shoved the guy to the ground. "Seen the avatar lately?"

"For a second I thought you were going to ask him how the whether was."

"Sailing into Fire Nation waters? Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!" Iroh chastised Zuko as we neared Fire Nation waters.

"Is the avatar so important that we need to take such a risk?" I asked.

"I have no choice, uncle!" Zuko completely ignored me.

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord _banished_ you?" Iroh snapped. He was angrier than I had ever seen him. "What if you are caught?"

"You won't be the only one in trouble!" I piped up. "He could have all of us punished for your stupidity!"

"I'm chasing the avatar! My father will understand why I am returning home!" He countered. Iroh shook his head slowly.

"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type."

"Yeah, from what Iroh's told me he sounds like a _really_ generous and fun guy." I muttered sarcastically. "He'll probably just let you right on in whenever you want without giving a care in the world…" Zuko responded to my sarcasm by sneering and peering into his telescope.

"The avatar!" He gasped. "Helmsman, full steam ahead!" Zuko ordered one of the guards on the lower deck to prepare the catapult. The floor of the deck slid backwards to reveal a catapult. He loaded set the ammunition on fire.

"Really, Prince Zuko? Couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Iroh asked, fanning the smelly fumes away from him. I gagged.

"On my mark… Fire!" Zuko ordered. I cut the rope of the catapult and the fireball flew through the air.

Tikaani's POV:

"Its Zuko and company!" I cried. "Fireball!" I warned, just as a fireball zoomed past us. I covered my nose as the rancid smell hit me. "Sokka, what did you do?"

"That wasn't me!" Sokka protested.

"We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another half stinker at us!" Katara called.

"Can't Appa go any faster?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, but there's just one little problem…" Aang stated.

"A blockade?" I asked. "Thanks a lot universe!"

"If we fly north we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade! It's the only way!" Aang stated.

"There's not enough time!" Katara replied. "There's only one way…"

"Then let's do this!" I shouted. "Let's run this blockade!"

Ryuu's POV:

"A blockade!" Zuko exclaimed.

"A what?" I pushed Zuko out of the way to peer through the telescope. A short while away there was a line of Fire Nation ships, all with catapults at the ready. That wasn't the worst part. "Oh monkey feathers, looks like Zhao's crawled back out of his hole." Atop one of the ships, the Fire Nation Commander Zhao was eying Zuko's ship wearily. He also eyed the bison.

"Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters, turn around now and they cannot arrest you!" Iroh advised.

"He's not turning around!" Zuko protested.

"Please, Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the avatar!" Iroh tried to coax Zuko, but I could tell that by the look on the prince's face that he was not giving in.

"I'm sorry, uncle. Run the blockade!" Zuko ordered.

"What the what?" I cried. "You're crazy!"

"If crazy is what it takes to capture the avatar," Zuko replied, "Then crazy is what I'll be."

"Yeah, but this is-" I was cut off by a loud explosion as a fireball struck the ship. An engineer raced onto the deck.

"Prince Zuko! The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"

"Do not stop this ship!" Zuko snapped.

"If you can't beat'em, join'em." I shrugged. I loaded another fireball onto the catapult and shot it into the air, but one fireball at a time was not enough to make so much as an indent in the blockade.

"We're on a collision course!" Iroh cried.

"We can make it!" Zuko snapped.

"No we can't!" I argued, but just then, Zhao's ships stopped. We glided past without a single challenge. Zuko and I stared up at Zhao's challenging face. He was up to something; he was letting us pass for a reason. "He's up to something."

"I know…" Zuko grumbled.

Tikaani's POV:

"There it is!" Aang cried, after hours of smooth sailing. Er… I mean flying.

"The crescent-shaped island!" I exclaimed, pointing out at it. We landed Appa in a secluded place where no one would see us.

"You did it, buddy! Nice flying!" Aang exclaimed. Appa rolled over and let out a loud yawn.

"Aw, you must be tired!" Katara cooed.

"Nope, I'm good! Refreshed and ready to fight dome firebenders!" Sokka exclaimed as he stretched and began to jog in place. I kicked one of his feet out from under him as he did so.

"She was talking to Appa." I explained, rolling my eyes.

"Well…" He stood to his feet and tried to think of a cover story. "I was talking to Momo!" He pointed towards the lemur.

"Sure you were." I said flatly before we all headed towards the tower.

"I don't see any guards…" Sokka stated, looking around.

"The temple's probably been abandoned for a hundred years or so." I whispered. "And the sun's almost down."

"We better hurry!" Aang leaped up the stairs and into the temple. He looked around in wonder, as did I. The temple was well built and highly decorated, most of the walls having red and gold patterns on them.

"Wait!" Sokka called. "I think I heard something." We all turned around to come face to face with five fire sages. I gulped. They didn't look friendly. Of course I knew they weren't.

"We are the fire sages, guardians of the temple of the avatar." The oldest of them whispered in a gruff and angry voice.

"Great, I am the avatar!" Aang smiled.

"We know." The old sage sneered before blasting fire in our direction.

"I'll hold them off, run!" Aang yelled. Katara and Sokka booked it, but I wasn't going anywhere. "Tikaani, get out of here!" Aang ordered.

"No way am I letting you have all the fun!" I snapped. I waterbended some water out of my pouch and prepared myself in a fighting stance. Aang pushed the fire sages to the ground with a huge gust of air.

"We aren't going to fight them!" He stated. He pushed me down the hallway with his airbending, much to my protest.

"If we let him talk to Roku, there's no telling how powerful the boy will become!" The old sage snarled. "Split up and find him!" His voice echoed throughout the halls and now I had no choice but to run. Aang had spilt my water when he airbended me backwards, so now the only way for me to defend myself was for me to use my bare hands- or run. The halls were like a maze. I followed Aang as he darted around a corner, almost colliding with Sokka and Katara.

"Follow me!" Aang called.

"Do you know where you're going?" Sokka asked.

"Nope!" Aang called as he charged around another corner. "Wrong way!" The young monk cried, heading back the way he came. Katara and Sokka stared at him in confusion, but just then, a firebender raced around the corner.

"Run!" I yelled. All of us turned around and ran. Aang led us straight to a dead end. The firebender came around the corner. We were trapped.

"I don't want to fight you!" He said. "I am a friend."

"Firebenders aren't our friends!" Sokka snapped. Aang, Katara and Sokka all prepared themselves in a fighting stance. The man stepped forward and Aang tensed, but before he could attack, the man dropped to his knees and bowed to the young avatar.

"I know why you're here, avatar." He said.

"You do?" Aang dropped out of his fighting stance immediately.

"Yes. You wish to speak to avatar Roku. I will take you to him."

"How?" Aang interrogated. In reply, the sage moved one of the lanterns to reveal a hole in the wall. He placed his hand over the hole and blasted fire into it. A part of the wall slid away to reveal a secret passage.

"This way!" The sage stated. The others looked at him skeptically.

"Find him!" Another voice echoed. It was one of the other sages.

"Just go down the creepy passage!" I urged. I let the other three go first before I entered the tunnel. The friendly sage was last to file inside. He closed the door behind us and let out a sigh of relief.

"We're safe… for now... Follow me." The sage muttered.

Ryuu's POV:

"What's he up to, uncle?" Zuko wondered aloud as he clutched the railings of the lookout post. "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?

"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you will lead him to the prize you're both after... The avatar" Iroh explained. I looked behind us to see that Zhao's ship was indeed on our tail. He was on the very edge of the horizon, but I could tell it was him.

"Iroh's right. We've got a tail." I told Prince Zuko, pointing to the ship that was following us. He sneered.

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do." Zuko spat. I thought about his statement for a moment before realizing what his plan was. He was going to leave under the cover of his own trail of smoke. I was going to go with him, whether he likes it or not.

Tikaani's POV:

"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home. He formed these secret passages out of the magma." The sage explained.

"Did you know avatar Roku?" Aang asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What kind of question is that? This guy doesn't even look remotely close to 112 years old!" I exclaimed. Seriously, the other sages were like twice his age.

"My grandfather knew avatar Roku." The sage stated. "Many generations of fire sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place."

"Is that how you knew I was coming?" Aang wondered.

"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The statue of avatar Roku, its eyes began to glow." I really wished that I had remembered this guy's name. It was starting to bother me. I tried to think… _Shyu! _I recalled. _That's his name._

"That's when we were at the air temple." Katara stated. "Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too."

"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world." Shyu said.

"If this is the avatar's temple, how come the other sages attacked me?" Aang questioned.

"Things have changed. In the past the sages were loyal only to the avatar. When Roku died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next avatar to return, but he never came." Shyu sighed.

"They were waiting for me."

"Hey, don't feel bad… You're only a-" Sokka's sentence was cut off by a yelp of pain as I slammed my heel into his foot. "Ow!"

"Deserved it!" I cheered.

"They lost hope the avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other sages were forced to follow him. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other sages." Shyu finished.

"Thank you for helping me." Aang thanked. Shy smiled.

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him." Shy explained. I sighed. This was taking to long. Finally we reached the top of the stairs, but the doors to the sanctuary were closed.

"Only a fully realized avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the sages must open it together with five simultaneous fire blasts." Shyu muttered. I looked over at Sokka, who seemed to have an idea.

"Five fire blasts, huh?" Sokka wondered. "I think I can help you out." He created five bags of fake firebending using lamp oil, gunpowder and animal skins. I had to admit that Sokka _could_ be smart _sometimes_. When the bombs went off, the loud explosion sounded, but the doors didn't budge.

"It didn't work…" Shyu sighed.

"But it looks like it did!" I exclaimed. They all stared at me like I was crazy, except for Katara, who seemed to get my point. "We can get the sages to open the doors!" Katara and I explained our plan to the others. We all agreed and hid.

"Come quickly, the avatar has entered the sanctuary!" Shyu exclaimed. The other sages rushed into the room.

"How did he get in?"

"I don't know, but look at the scorch marks and down there!" Shyu pointed towards the shadow moving at the base of the door.

"He's inside!" The sages stated. "Open the doors immediately! We can't let him speak to avatar Roku!" The sages gathered in a line and blasted fire at the door, causing it to creak open. "It's the avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" One of the sages shouted. Momo leaped at him. Katara and Sokka leaped out from hiding and jumped two fire sages. They had appointed me to watching from above, in case anything went wrong. Shyu surprised another fire sage, but Aang hadn't shown up yet.

"Now Aang!" Shyu called out. Aang didn't show up. _Zuko._ I thought.

"Aang, now's your chance!" Katara cried. Two figures emerged from the shadows, Aang in their grasps. _Ryuu!_

Ryuu's POV:

"The avatar is coming with us!" Zuko concluded. I smiled as the battle before us turned around quickly. The loyal fire sages managed to gain the upper hand in the battle. "Close the doors, quickly!" Zuko ordered. I let go of the avatar and went to close the doors, but when I did so, I heard a shout behind me. I turned around to see the kid racing toward me and I hurled a fireball in his direction. He dodged it, bounced off my hand, and leaped through the doors before they closed.

"Monkey feathers, Zuko's not gonna be happy about that…" I muttered to myself. I looked around the room. The fire sages had wasted no time in chaining the avatar's friends to a pole, but something was wrong. One of the girls was missing. I took a couple steps backwards, examining the room. Suddenly, I had the urge to look up. There she was, hanging from the rafters. I shot fire at her and she tried to swing to another rafter, but she misjudged the jump. She came out a little short and tumbled to the ground. "Put her with the other two, and do it quickly!" I wasn't used to giving orders, but the fire sages actually listened. She struggled and fought and kicked, but they chained her down. I turned around to come face to face with Zuko.

"You let him through the doors?" He snarled.

"I tried to stop him!" I defended myself.

"Well you didn't try hard enough." He spat. "Move aside!" Zuko shoved me aside and cracked his knuckles before facing the door. The other four sages stood beside him and blasted the door, but nothing happened. "Why isn't it working? Its sealed shut!"

"It must have been the light." One of the other sages grumbled. "Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."

"Why did you help the avatar?" Zuko asked, turning toward the traitorous sage in anger.

"Because it was once the sage's duty. It is still our duty." Shyu explained. A slow clapping filled the room and I whipped around. Zhao was standing there, a group of soldiers gathered behind him.

"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." Sideburns said sarcastically.

"Commander Zhao." One of the fire sages bowed to him. I worked some mucus out of my throat and spat on the ground at his feet.

"Prince Zuko, and his peasant…" Zhao glared at me in disgust. I snickered as he stepped closer to Zuko, clearly avoiding my saliva. "It was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work. Three traitors, in one day… The Fire Lord will be pleased." He snickered.

"Three?" I snarled. "I am no traitor!"

"But you're parents were, and that'll be good enough for the Fire Lord." Zhao smiled evilly.

"What?" My eyes widened. "What do you know about my parents? H-how do you know?" I stammered. I wanted- no, needed- to know what he knew. In reply, Zhao smiled and ignored me. He looked at the doors.

"You're too late, Zhao. The avatar's inside and the doors are sealed." Zuko butted in as if he had never heard me.

"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." Zhao stated with a creeper look on his face. I clenched my fists and smoke started to rise from my hands.

"Tell me! Tell me how you know about my parents!" I ordered. "Tell me what you know about my parents!" Zhao snickered.

"Poor Ryuu…" Zhao scoffed mockingly. "You don't even know your own parents, or what became of them. It almost makes me feel sorry for you. Almost. Too bad almost isn't enough."

"Let me go right now and I'll show you to talk that way about me!" I shouted.

"You?" Zhao laughed. "I don't think so. Guards, he needs extra restraints."

"No! Get you're hands off me!" The guards had to wrestle me to one of the poles and chain me there before I gave up. They chained Zuko up next to me as well, but I didn't so much as look at him. I looked at the ground. My thoughts were whirling. _Who are my parents?_

Tikaani's POV:

"When those doors open, unleash all your firepower!" Zhao ordered.

"How's Aang going to make it out of this…" Katara wondered aloud.

"How are we going to make it out of this?" Sokka asked.

"Stop being so selfish, Sokka…" I muttered feebly. "I don't care what happens to us, but Aang has to be okay. He's the avatar. He just has to be okay." I sighed before looking at the ground. _I know Aang will be okay, but what about Ryuu? And what did Zhao mean when he said that our parents were traitors? _I thought back to my vision on Kyoshi. _Our mother was a firebender and our father was a waterbender. She helped him escape. She was a traitor. _Just then, the room was filled with light and the doors burst open.

"No, Aang!" Katara cried.

"Fire!" Zhao ordered. I looked up. Roku himself was standing there, firebending the blasts so that none of them hit him.

"Avatar Roku!" Shyu gasped. Roku blasted fire at us, melting our chains. I caught a glimpse of Ryuu and Zuko fleeing together.

"Ryuu!" I called out, but he didn't hear me.

"Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" Shyu exclaimed.

"Not without Aang!" Katara argued. The floor began to split. Magma rose in the temple and everything turned into a furnace. Katara, Sokka and I refused to flee. Avatar Roku soon faded and Aang fell to the ground. We rushed to help him.

"We've got your back!" Sokka stated.

"Thanks… Where's Shyu?" Aang asked.

"He fled with the other sages." I explained. "We gotta get out of here!" I grabbed Katara and Aang's arms and dragged them toward the hole in the wall. _Any time now, Appa…_ I thought. His loud roar split the air and I jumped. The others followed me and we landed on Appa's saddle. He then flew us away from the temple. I looked back and watched it fall.

"Are you alright, Tikaani?" Sokka asked. I nodded reluctantly.

"I was just… thinking…" I crossed my arms and laid my head down as we flew into the sunset. _I hope Ryuu's okay._


	8. Chapter Seven: Pirate Problems

**Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy. The school year is almost over, which means I'll have to give my laptop back. the chapters are probably going to take longer to get out when school's over because I won't be able to sit with my laptop in front of the TV, like I usually do... **

Tikaani's POV:

"Would you sit down?" Sokka asked. "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off."

"I'm pretty sure that we can't hit a bump in midair, Sokka." I chastised. It was so fun to chastise Sokka. "But Sokka's right." I stopped to think about what I'd just said before I burst out laughing. "Good one, Tikaani!"

"What's so funny?" Sokka asked, narrowing his eyes. "I'm right sometimes!" I laughed even harder. "Shut up." Sokka grumbled.

"What's bugging you, anyway?" I asked Aang.

"Its what avatar Roku said. I have to master all four elements before that comet arrives." Aang worried.

"Well, let's see. You've pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer." Sokka stated sarcastically. I picked up his sleeping bag and chucked it at him. "Hey, I'm trying to fly here!" He complained. I laughed.

"I haven't even started water bending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole!" Aang exclaimed. "What am I going to do?"

"Oh, I have an idea!" I exclaimed. "Katara and I can teach you some water bending moves when we find a good source of water."

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka laughed.

"There!" I exclaimed, pointing. Sokka flew down and we landed in this nice pool with a waterfall and water everywhere.

"Wow, nice puddle." Sokka mused. Appa leaped into the water and started rolling around in it.

"Yeah! Don't start without me boy!" Aang exclaimed. He took off his shirt and pants and almost went into the water.

"Remember the reason we're here." Katara stated. Aang stopped.

"Oh, right. Time to practice waterbending." Aang stated, putting his clothes back on.

"Great… So… What am I supposed to do?" Sokka asked.

"You could… Clean the gunk out of Appa's toes!" Aang offered.

"So while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?" Sokka asked.

"Mud and bugs!" Aang exclaimed happily. Sokka blinked and looked at Aang for a couple seconds.

"Okay!" He agreed, and he set to work. Katara and I prepared ourselves for our lesson with Aang. We agreed to take turns teaching Aang how to waterbend.

"This is a pretty basic moves, but it still took me months to perfect, so don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Katara explained to Aang. She began to move her arms, pushing the waves in and out. "Just push and pull the water, like this. The key is getting the wrist movement right." I stood next to her and copied her motions. Together, we could make the wave grow pretty big and I tried not to look absolutely amazed. The little bit of water bending that I tried to do while I was in the show had only been minor. During this episode, there was a huge focus on waterbending.

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Aang exclaimed. Katara looked slightly envious that it had come so easy to him.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly…" Katara trailed off. "It took me months to learn that move."

"Well, you had to figure it out all on your own. I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher." Aang complimented. _Thank you, captain butt kiss._ I thought.

"Thanks." Katara thanked, flattered.

"My turn!" I shouted. "I can show you how to make ice." I bent a string of water out of the river and took a deep breath before breathing on it. The water instantly turned to ice. Aang tried the move and got it almost instantly. Katara tried the move, but it took her a little bit longer to get. She did manage to freeze half the water, but then she lost her concentration and dropped it. "Okay, Katara!" I stepped over to allow her to teach the next move. "Beat that, Katara!" I challenged. She glared at me angrily.

"Well I do know a pretty hard move, and I don't think you'll be able to handle it!" She stated to me. "The idea is to create a big, powerful wave." Katara tried to make a big wave, but she couldn't manage and it splashed back into the river.

"So… Like this?" Aang and I asked. The both of us created huge wave that crashed over Sokka and Appa. Sokka glared at us. "Looks like we got the hang of that move!" We both exclaimed. Katara's eyebrows looked exactly like Jet's. I almost said it out loud, but then I remembered that we hadn't met Jet yet. I vaguely wondered if his eyebrows were permanently stuck like that. "What else ya got?" Aang asked.

"That's enough practicing for today…" Katara seethed.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Sokka complained. "You just practiced our supplies down the river." He looked down the river as our supplies disappeared under the current.

"Uh… Sorry." Aang apologized. "I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff."

"My life was hard enough when you were just an airbender." Sokka moped.

Ryuu's POV:

Zuko blasted fire in my direction I swiped it away like a pesky fly and kicked some flames towards him. Zuko ducked and rolled out of the way. He was about to attack again, but just then, the ship moved.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Someone's changing our course!" Zuko stormed. He stomped away and I followed him to the steering room. He shoved the door open. "What's the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course!"

"Actually someone did. I assure you it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko." Iroh explained calmly.

"Is it something to do with the avatar?" Zuko asked.

"Nope. It has to do with your horrible sense of direction." I piped in, ducking just in time to avoid a fireball to the face. I snickered once the danger had passed.

"Even more urgent. It seems I… I've lost my lotus tile." Iroh stated.

"Lotus tile?" Zuko was lost, as was I.

"For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ." Iroh continued.

"You've changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" Zuko's eye twitched.

"See, you, like most people, under estimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchant's at this port of call. Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life." Iroh finished. Zuko began to take deep breaths.

"Deep breaths, your royal hotheadedness, deep breaths…" I patted him gently on the back and he was too upset to notice my insult. He looked up at the ceiling and breathed out fire and a puff of smoke.

"I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew." Iroh smiled. I had to laugh at the Irohny- get it? _Iroh_ny? - Of that statement. I waved the smoke away and sat next to Iroh.

"So, this 'Pai Sho' game… How do you play?" I asked.

Tikaani's POV:

The marketplace was exactly as I had expected it to be. It was grungy, dirty and full of creepy weirdos. It also smelled a lot like saltwater and sweat. It was full of looters, muggers and criminal-looking people.

"We've got three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi left us. Let's spend it wisely." Sokka cautioned.

"Uh… Make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!"

"One copper piece!" I exclaimed. "Look at this necklace I bought!" I pulled my hair back to show them a red band with a Fire Nation insignia on it. Sokka's mouth dropped open.

"You bought a necklace with the FIRE NATION INSIGNIA on it?" He shouted at the top of his lungs. I snickered, knowing all too well how mad it would make him.

"It has pretty colors!" I pointed out. Sokka facepalmed.

"Stupid girls and their stupid jewelry!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Oh really?" Katara narrowed her eyes. "Then what is that around _your_ neck, Sokka?" She asked, pointing towards his neck.

"This is a warrior's whale-bone neckband!" He exclaimed. "It is not jewelry, it's an accessory. A warrior's accessory!" Sokka pointed out.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." I stated flatly. Sokka seethed.

"Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation. So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here!" The pirate shouted. "Don't be shy, come on by! Oh, you there!" He ran over to us. "I can see from your clothing that you're world traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

"Sure! What are curios?" Aang asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but we got'em!" The pirate exclaimed. I couldn't help but think that he sounded like a chicken. He smiled and led Aang onto the ship. We were walking around curiously.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur." A gruff old voice rumbled. "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering."

"Momo's not for sale!" Aang said. The pirate's iguana parrot screeched at us and I shivered before walking over to look at the shelves. Lucky for me, Katara was still eying the strange monkey Buda-looking thing-a-ma-jigger. I took the waterbending scroll off the shelf.

"Aang, Katara, come look at this!" I exclaimed. They came over to the place where I had just removed the scroll. I opened it. "It's a waterbending scroll!"

"Check out those crazy moves!" Katara smiled.

"Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" Aang questioned curiously.

"Let's just say I got it up North at a most reasonable price. Free." The pirate captain stated. Katara watched sadly as he slid the scroll back onto the shelf.

"Wait a minute. Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!" Sokka concluded.

"We prefer to think of ourselves as 'high risk traders.'" One of the other pirates corrected, putting his arm around Sokka and winking. Sokka looked genuinely terrified.

"How much for the, uh… traded scroll?" Katara wondered.

"I've already got a buyer." The captain spat. "A nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless of course you kids have two hundred gold pieces on ya right now."

I looked over towards the spot where Aang and Katara were 'haggling' with the pirate. He was too busy dealing with them to notice when I slipped the waterbending scroll into my bag.

"How about one copper piece?" Aang asked in a fake pirate voice.

"Get out." The pirate sneered.

"Ay, we be casting off now!" Aang cheered. We left the ship. We were heading away from the pirate ship when one of the pirates called after us.

"Hey, you! Get back here!" He called. Immediately afterwards, a whole group of pirates leaped from the ship and started to close in on us.

"Run!" I exclaimed, grabbing Aang and Katara before running. Sokka charged after us, but the pirates were also on our tail. As I was running I waterbended some water onto the street and Katara froze it, causing the pirates to slip and fall.

"My cabbages!" The cabbage man cried as a group of pirates barreled into his cabbage kart. "This place is worse than Omashu!" We were running, and it looked like we were going to make it, but just then, three pirates jumped down from a roof and blocked our path. They chased us right to a dead end.

"I hope that lemur of yours has nine lives!" One pirate called. "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?" He asked.

"No thanks!" Aang replied. He pushed them out of the way with airbending before preparing his glider. "Grab on tight!" Aang exclaimed. The three of us grabbed hold of his glider and he used one powerful gust of air to sweep us into the sky and away from the pirates. It was almost sun set when we returned back to camp.

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible!" Aang mused.

"No kidding…" Katara stated. I smiled smugly.

"Why else would I steal a waterbending scroll from them?" I asked as I took it out of my purse.

"No way…" Aang gasped.

"You could have gotten us killed!" Sokka accused.

"You stole the scroll!" Katara cheered excitedly. Sokka and Aang both looked at her; they were shocked that she wasn't angry with me. "Or should I call it high risk trading?" She remarked. I smirked.

"Good one Katara!" Aang chuckled. Sokka was staring at all of us angrily.

"They probably stole it, so I stole it back." I explained before he had a chance to ask. "Yeah, I put us in danger, but did it for Aang. I did it for the world!"

"Well now that we have it, we might as well learn from it." Aang stated.

Ryuu's POV:

"I've checked all the shops on this peer. Not a lotus tile in the entire market place." Iroh muttered disappointingly.

"It's good to know this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" Zuko shouted angrily, glaring at Iroh.

"Not really…" I piped up. "Look at all this cool stuff we got!" I cheered. A large group of soldiers walked passed, each carrying a heavy load of stuff. "The only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Iroh seemed to share my joy.

"You bought a Tsungi horn?" Zuko asked, his good eye twitching.

"For music night on the ship!" Iroh justified.

"Plus, I heard from a certain someone that you were a spirit on the Tsungi horn!" I pointed out. "You should here me on woodwinds!"

"This place looks promising!" Iroh convinced, pointing towards a large ship.

"Ooo, they've got curios!" I exclaimed as I was looking at the merchandise. I examined the different items they had.

"Ooo, this is hansom!" Iroh cried, looking at a jeweled stone monkey-like thing. "Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"

"I think it would, sir!" I agreed.

"We lost the water tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."

"This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" Zuko demanded.

"Really, Zuko? You can't just go around asking people if they have an arrow on their head." I criticized.

"Ready the river boat!" Zuko ordered. I did as he said and readied the boat. I steered it alongside the pirate ships.

"Shouldn't we be checking the woods?" I called up to him.

"They stole a waterbending scroll." Zuko reasoned. "So they'll be on the water." I nodded slowly.

"Right, right, I knew that!" I reassured. Zuko rolled his eyes and sneered.

Tikaani's POV:

I pretended to sleep, but soon Katara arose from her sleeping bag. She walked over to the scroll.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked. Katara turned around to look at me and sighed. "You're going to practice your waterbending without me?" Katara sighed again.

"Do you have to come?" Katara asked.

"If I don't come, then I can't make sure that the others don't find out about your secret training." I connived. Blackmail!

"Fine, you can come." Katara agreed. We both headed towards the river. As was expected, she had a lot of trouble with the water whip. I had a little trouble, but soon enough I managed to get it right. Katara started shouting. "Its not fair that it comes so easily to you while its still so difficult for me!"

"Sh!" I ordered. I heard a noise. It could only be Zuko's riverboat that just arrived. Katara peered through the bushes and gasped. I turned around to come face to face with a pirate. I turned around again to come face to face with the love of my- I mean Zuko.

"I'll save you from the pirates." He sneered.

"Okay…" I stared into his sparkling golden eyes.

"What?" Zuko looked genuinely creeped out right now.

"I mean… Ah, let me go!" I wasn't convincing anyone.

"Tikaani!" I looked over at Katara. She turned around, about to race from the bushes, but that was when Ryuu emerged. He grabbed her arms in the same way Zuko had grabbed mine.

Ryuu's POV:

"Hey pretty lady." I smirked. "Nice night for a swim… or some waterbending."

"Bind them!" Zuko ordered. I nodded and tied both of the water tribe girls to the tree. I was a pretty good knot-tier if I do say so myself. After they were tightly bound, Zuko glared at them. "Tell me where he is and I won't hurt any of you."

"Go jump in the river!" The pretty girl jeered.

"Try to understand. I need him to restore something I've lost. My honor. Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost." Zuko took out the water tribe girl's necklace.

"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?" She demanded.

"We didn't steal it, if that's what you think." I defended. She glared at me.

"Stop ignoring me!" The other water tribe girl complained loudly. I flashed her an angry look, but just then her necklace caught my attention.

"What's this?" I looked at it. It was red with a golden Fire Nation insignia on it. "Why would a water tribe girl be wearing a necklace with the Fire Nation insignia on it?" I asked. "I think someone from the Fire Nation might appreciate it more, don't you?" I reached to untie the necklace, but the girl's teeth close around my fingers. "Youch!" I hollered. "She's BIT me!" I complained after pulling free.

"Enough of this garbage!" The pirates interrupted. "You promised a scroll!"

"I wonder how much money this is worth…" Zuko stated before lighting a fire under the scroll. The pirates froze and a couple shouted. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here." Zuko ordered.

"Fine!" The captain snapped before heading into the woods.

"Even though I hate you," I admitted, "I have to admit that you have a very strategic method of getting things done." I nodded slowly. That was the first time I had ever said anything nice to Zuko without being sarcastic.

"And even though I hate you, my uncle won't let me get rid of you." Zuko replied. _I guess that's as close to a compliment as I'll ever get out of him. _I thought to myself.

It was just after sunrise when the pirates returned with the avatar and that other ponytail kid. Although, I wasn't one to talk, Iroh made me where my hair in a bun. It was better than Zuko's ponytail, though.

"Nice work." Zuko said. He began to walk towards the pirates.

"Aang, this is all my fault." The pretty water tribe girl said.

"No, Katara, it isn't." Aang comforted.

"Yeah, it kind of is." Iroh disagreed.

"Give me the boy!" Zuko demanded.

"You give us the scroll." The captain argued.

"You're really going to hand over the avatar for a stupid peace of parchment?" The water tribe boy asked.

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko called.

"You're friend is the avatar?" The pirate wondered aloud.

"Sure is. And I bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll!" The boy continued.

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!" Zuko snarled.

"'Peasant' is such a common insult. Why not slob or filth?" I suggested.

"Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the avatar. You guys would be set for life." He finished.

"Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid."

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me." Zuko promised. He shot fire at the pirates and all the other guards did so as well. _Might as well join the fun! _I thought, shooting fire at them as well.

Tikaani's POV:

The pirates and guards disappeared in a veil of smoke. I tried to struggle free, but the ropes were tied too tight. I sighed. Suddenly, I noticed the ropes loosening. I turned my head to see Momo chewing them.

"Thank you, Momo!" I cried, hugging the lemur.

"We owe you a bushel of apples!" Katara cried.

"Let's get to the pirate's ship!" I stated, pointing at the ship. Katara and I ran over to the ship and tried to push it into the water, but it wouldn't budge. "Let's wait for Sokka and Aang, they can help!" Soon after I said it, the two of them emerged from the smoke and rushed over to us.

"Katara, Tikaani, you're both okay!" Aang exclaimed.

"Help us push this boat back into the water!" I ordered. Sokka and Aang came over and tried to help us, but the ship didn't budge.

"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship!" Sokka exclaimed.

"A team of rhinos… or two waterbenders." Aang stated, looking at Katara.

"Guys, I'm right here!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, three waterbenders." Aang corrected sheepishly. All of us used the wave move to carry the ship back into the river.

Ryuu's POV:

"Are you so busy fighting you can not see your own ship has set sail?" Iroh asked as he pushed Zuko and the captain apart. Zuko was enraged.

"We have no time for your proverbs, uncle!" Zuko complained.

"It isn't a proverb, those kids just stole the pirates' ship." I butted in.

"Bleeding hog monkeys!" The captain exclaimed. Zuko laughed out loud. He literally laughed out loud! He rarely smiled and I had never heard him laugh before. This was by far the strangest trip we have ever been on.

"Hey! That's my boat!" Zuko cried as a bunch of pirates sailed away on his riverboat.

"Maybe it should be a proverb." Iroh and I said at the same time.

"Come on uncle and peasant!" Zuko called. I sighed.

"Yes sire!" I said in a high-pitched, prissy-sounding voice before following. By the time we reached them, it was too late. Zuko's ship had toppled over the edge of the waterfall and the kids got away on their flying bison.

"My boat!" Zuko whined.

"My boat!" I mocked. Zuko turned around and walked towards me slowly. I hid behind Iroh, which didn't really work because I was taller than him.

"You're really going to get a kick out of this," Iroh chuckled, "The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

"Oh my spirits, you should check if his honor is in there too!" I exclaimed. Zuko breathed in and out slowly before swiping the lotus tile out of Iroh's hand and hurling it off the cliffside.


	9. Chapter Eight: A Shade of Red

**Yay! Finally reached the chapter with Jet! **

**My sister has had a crush on this dude since his first appearance in the show, so...**

**I added a character for her! Say hello to Red, the bad-a** b*tch of the Freedom Fighters! She wears a wolf bat cloak that she can use to glide and she has a pair of blades on her arms that can flip out like swords! She's an OC that my sister created and I just want to say that she is pretty much the coolest person in this story, aside from Ryuu. (If he wasn't my own character, I'd have a fangirl crush on him!)**

**I have a fangirl crush on EVERYONE! **

**And by everyone, I mean Zuko, Sokka, and Longshot! :)**

Tikaani's POV:

"These are Fire Nation traps. You can tell from the metalwork." Sokka explained. We had just freed Momo and the wild hog monkeys from the circular traps they had been trapped in. "We better pack up camp and get moving." Sokka stated. I sighed and looked around at the trees. Their leaves were bright orange. I had to envy Jet. They were beautiful trees to live in. "Uh-uh, no flying this time!" Sokka protested as we began to climb Appa.

"What? Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked.

"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. Its because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable!"

"We're all too noticeable!" I added.

"What? We're not too noticeable!" Katara argued.

"We're three water tribe people who travel with a monk and fly around on a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head!" I hollered. "You can't get much more noticeable than that." Appa roared with indignation.

"Tikaani's just jealous because she doesn't have an arrow." Aang told Appa.

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk." Sokka reasoned.

"Who made you the boss?" Katara asked.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader!" Sokka corrected. I laughed. "What's so funny?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The fact that _you_ think you can be a leader." I chuckled. "I wouldn't follow you if we were _playing_ follow the leader. Besides, you're voice still cracks."

"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" Sokka argued, making his voice a bit deeper.

"What about me?" I asked, glaring at Sokka. "I'm a warrior and we're the same age!" I narrowed my eyes. "Unless you _still_ think that women can't fight."

"I never said that!" Sokka argued. "I just meant…"

"I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl!" Katara snapped.

"I've kissed a girl! You just haven't met her!" Sokka argued.

"Katara's met Suki, and for the record, she kissed you, not the other way around." I stated.

"Suki kissed _you_? Of all people?" Katara was astonished.

"Shut up and follow me, or I'll tell gran-gran something super… SECRET… and BAD about you!" Sokka shouted. Katara and I laughed before following Sokka, just to humor him.

"Walking stinks!" Aang complained. "How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"Oh, I don't know Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts?" Katara suggested. "They seem to know everything!

"Ha, ha, very funny…" Sokka seethed.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang complained.

"Maybe you should ask Sokka's instincts to carry it." I snickered.

"That's a great idea!" He cheered. "Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look guys, I'm tired too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the… Fire Nation…" Sokka trailed off as we walked straight into a Fire Nation camp. Fire Nation soldiers all stared at us while they were holding sharp and pointy weapons. "Run!" We dropped our packs, ready to run, but just then a firebender blasted the bushes behind us. "We're cut off!"

"Really, Sherlock, I didn't notice!" I grumbled sarcastically. "Oh, BTW Sokka, your shirt is on fire." I stated before blasting him with a ray of water. "Oops, I guess I over did it." I laughed. Aang and Katara looked at me like I was crazy.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?" Aang asked. I rolled my eyes. _We're gonna be saved in three, two, one…_ Suddenly, one of the guards fell over for no reason at all. "Whoa, how did you do that, Tikaani?" Aang asked.

"Look!" Katara cried.

"Its Robin hood!" I exclaimed. "Robin hood music, cue now!" A tall boy with shaggy brown hair, ragtag armor, a pair of hook swords and a weed in his mouth, dropped down into the clearing. He smiled and whipped out a couple guards with his hooked swords.

"Down ya go!" He snickered. Aang, Katara, and Sokka stared in astonishment.

"They're in the trees!" One guard cried. A little boy with a helmet dropped onto the guard's head and a girl in a wolf bat cloak glided down, knocking out two more guards.. I tilted my head quizzically. _Who is that?_ S_he's not supposed to be here._ I'm pretty sure I would have recognized a member of the freedom fighters in a wolf bat cloak.

"The wolf bats are gonna eat well tonight." She snickered. Arrows came from another tree and I looked up to see Longshot firing down at us. Katara and Aang began helping with their water and airbending. Sokka charged at a guard with his boomerang at the ready. Before he could do anything, Jet kicked the guy out of the way.

"Hey, he was mine!" Sokka protested.

"Gotta be quicker next time!" Jet smiled. I watched as Pipsqueak leaped down and broke the swords of two guards, causing them to flee. I saw Jet heading towards a guard to my right so I soaked the guard's head and froze it with my water bending, causing him to fall over.

"Hey!" Jet said.

"Gotta be quicker next time!" I chuckled. Jet knocked out a couple more guards before he walked up to Katara.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hi…" Katara smiled. The two of them looked at what was left of the camp. Some guards had fled, but others were still unconscious. Jet's freedom fighters were making their way into the clearing.

"You just took out a whole army almost single handedly!" Aang mused.

"Army? Pft! It was only like… twenty guys…" Sokka argued.

"My name is Jet and these are my freedom fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, and Red." As Jet listed them off, I looked to each one in turn. All of them were familiar, except for the one in the wolf bat cloak. This 'Red' character didn't belong in the Avatarverse. The wolf bat cloak made it hard to see her face.

"Pipsqueak, that's a funny name!" Aang said as he walked up to The Duke.

"You think my name is funny?" Pipsqueak asked, narrowing his eyes at Aang.

"It's hilarious!" Aang confessed. Pipsqueak glared at him before he started laughing.

"Um… Thanks for saving us, Jet. We're lucky you were there." Katara flirted.

"I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning. We just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in." Jet smiled at Katara.

"We were relying on instincts." Katara grumbled.

"You'll get yourselves killed doing that." Jet informed.

"Hey Jet, these barrels are filled with blasting jelly!" The Duke exclaimed.

"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!" Red mused. I started. Her voice was familiar, but it couldn't be... Could it?

"Great! Let's not get those mixed up." Jet reasoned.

"We'll take this stuff back to the hideout!" The Duke called. I watched Red leave with the other Freedom Fighters.

"You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked.

"You want to see it?" Jet asked.

"Yes, we wanna see it!" Katara cheered, getting close to Jet. He led us to a spot deep in the forest, but I didn't see any hideout. Of course I already knew where it was. It was above us, hidden by the leaves.

"We're here." Jet said.

"Where? There's nothing here!" Sokka said skeptically.

"Hold this." Jet smirked, handing Sokka a rope.

"Why, what's this do?" Sokka asked, taking the rope skeptically. Immediately afterward the rope yanked him upwards. I watched as he disappeared. I laughed. Aang glided up on his glider and I watched in amazement as the wolf bat girl ran up the tree trunk like a tree ninja. Jet watched, but he didn't look very impressed. I grabbed hold of one of the ropes and gaped at the amazingness of the tree fortress. It was like a city of tree houses as far as the eye could see without a tree being in the way.

"What… the… F**K!?" A voice sounded from a tree a little whiles away. I looked to my left to see the wolf bat girl watching Jet and Katara. She was seething mad, almost to the boiling point. _That voice... It has to be..._

"Shyanne?" My I called out, knowing that it had to be her... Only my RWBFFAT (Real World Best Friend For All Time) would be bold enough to use words like that in a kid's show. This had to be Shyanne! Plus no one in the real Avatarverse would know words like that.

"Oh sh**, I've been caught!" Shyanne exclaimed. She spread her wings, about to fly off, but I stopped her before she could.

"Shyanne, its me!" I called. I looked around and lowered my voice. "Kandace."

"Kandace?" Shyanne's eyes widened and she studied me. "I suppose I should call you 'Tikaani' here then, am I right?"

"And I suppose I should call you 'Red.'" I said in turn. We were both avatar fans, so we had already come up with fake names for ourselves that would fit into the Avatarverse. Shyanne had always wanted to be a Freedom Fighter.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go join Jet." Red said. I nodded and we went to go find Jet (Red has forever had a fangirl crush on him, for reasons I do not know). He was just telling Katara about what he had been doing to mess with the Fire Nation. Red literally jumped in, but I just followed.

"They took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back." Jet stated.

"We've been ambushing their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with'em." Pipsqueak smiled smugly.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation of out here for good and free that town." Jet enthused.

"That's so brave!" Katara complimented. I looked at Red, who moved her hand and mouth to mock Katara's words. I giggled.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house!" Sokka mumbled.

"Don't pay any attention to my brother…" Katara muttered.

"No problem. He probably had a rough day." Jet commented.

"So you all live here?" Katara questioned.

"That's right." Jet nodded. "Longshot over there, his town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found The Duke and Red trying to steal our food. I don't think they ever really had a home."

"What about you?" Katara asked. Jet stopped, but the rest of the freedom fighters kept walking. I almost followed them, but Red grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a tree. We peeked out and watched them.

"Why are we-"

"Sh!" Shyanne cut me off.

"The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever…" Jet trailed off.

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation…" Katara confided.

"I'm so sorry, Katara…" Jet sympathized as he looked at her. Katara looked at Jet. Slowly they moved closer to one another. I looked over at Red. _This must be the part when they kiss offscreen!_ I thought. _Poor Red!_ She slowly made the ears on her wolf bat cloak droop downwards. I looked back at the scene. Jet still had his weed in his mouth. The edge of it tickled Katara's nose and she sneezed on his face.

"Ew!" Jet leaped backwards and wiped the spit off his face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Katara exclaimed.

"No, it's alright." Jet said, removing the weed from his mouth. I looked at Red. She was trying to contain her laughter. I looked back at the scene with Katara and Jet. They still hadn't moved from the bridge. They were looking around as if trying to think of something to say.

"This place… It's so beautiful." Katara whispered.

"Not as beautiful as you." Jet smiled. Katara blushed and the two of them moved closer. This time, the weed was in his hand. Nothing could mess up this moment. Nothing, that is, except for Red.

"Hey Jet!" Red called, racing around the corner as if she hadn't been there the whole time. "Its time for dinner, I need your help in the kitchen!"

"But I can't cook." Jet protested, looking bewildered.

"I don't care, get your butt to the kitchen if you want any food!" Red hollered.

"Okay, I'm coming." Jet looked at Katara. "Katara, I'm-"

"NOW! Don't make me get Pipsqueak!" Red commanded. Jet didn't have a chance to say anything else on the matter. He sighed and headed off in the opposite direction. Katara sighed and looked at the ground, obviously disappointed. Red walked back around the corner. "And that is how you save your true love from getting kissed by another woman!" Red explained. "I gotta get to the kitchen now, or Jet will know something's up." I watched as Red glided away. Finally, I couldn't handle it anymore. I laughed so hard that my sides hurt. Katara walked around the corner and narrowed her eyes at me.

"You were spying on me?" She inquired angrily. "I can't believe you would do something like that!" Katara spat before stomping off. _She'll cool down soon enough._

"Today we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine!" Jet announced, lifting his glass of lychee juice. He was greeted with happy cries from the Freedom Fighters. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldiers face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey." The Duke took his praise by jumping onto the table and lifting his arms. Cheers of approval greeted him. "Now the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right," Jet paused, letting the crowd boo, "Or maybe, they're dead wrong!" He declared, a serious expression crossing his face. Everyone cheered loudly. Jet smiled and took a seat between Sokka and Katara. Red sat next to Aang and I sat next to Red, who was still wearing her wolf bat cloak.

"Hey, Jet! Nice speech…" Katara smiled.

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you, Aang and Tikaani. That was some great bending I saw out there today." Jet complimented. Red sneered.

"Well… He's great. He's the avatar." Katara said modestly. "I could use some more training." She blushed. Red stuck out her tongue, but her cloak made it hard for anyone else to tell. Except for me. I knew everything she was thinking. We wouldn't be RWBFFATs if I didn't.

"Avatar, huh? Very nice…" Jet trailed off. Jet almost began talking again, but I knew from the moment he opened his mouth that Red was going to interrupt him.

"Sokka!" She called loudly across the table, cutting Jet off. "You haven't touched your meat pockets! Do you know how long it takes me to make those?"

"You made these?" Sokka asked, pointing at the odd pockets that looked- and tasted- like Totino's Pizza Rolls. He poked one of them. "Are you sure it has meat?" He asked.

"They're called _meat_ pockets." Red rolled her eyes. "I stuff meat in between two slabs of animal skin." Sokka looked at the pockets cautiously before taking a small bite of one. His eyes widened.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever tasted!" He exclaimed, his pupils dilating and sparkling.

"Is there any vegetarian food here?" Aang asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course! Something for everyone!" I watched as Red scooped a large pile of creamed corn onto Aang's plate. The young airbender dug in. His eyes lit up.

"Are you sure this is corn?" He asked, continuing to eat it. "Its delicious!"

"My compliments to you, Red. You are a wonderful cook!" I added as I tried the meat pockets and creamed corn. They were so delicious. I never knew Red was such a good cooker.

"I think there's a way that you guys can help in our struggle." Jet tried to speak over us. Everyone quieted as he spoke.

"Unfortunately we have to leave tonight." Sokka snapped. I nodded.

"Yeah, we gotta go to the North Pole." I added.

"Sokka, Tikaani, you're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow!" Jet called after us. Sokka stopped, but I kept walking.

"Stick your stupid mission!" I grunted. Sokka looked after me, but I knew he would never be able to turn down a mission. He looked back at Jet.

"What mission?" Sokka asked. I sighed. _Why does he have to say yes every time he hears the word 'mission?'_

"Tikaani, wait up!" I stopped and turned around to see Red. "I need your advice!" She sighed and looked at me. "How can I get Jet to notice me?"

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to know?"

"I've seen the way Sokka looks at you!" Red exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" I was very puzzled. Sure, Sokka had a crush on me in the beginning, but he wasn't _still_ interested in me, was he?

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed!" She shouted.

"Well at the beginning he had a small crush on me… But I thought that would go away after he met Suki." I confessed. "He… He's been staring at me?"

"Really, girl?" This time, Red was the one who raised an eyebrow. "It's so obvious that I almost died!"

"Well… I've been nothing but rude towards him since we started our journey. I don't know why he'd like me." I really thought I'd snuffed out his infatuation with me. I didn't want to be any more rude than I already was. "He probably thinks I'm teasing him, which would make him think that I like him." I reasoned.

"Well, being rude to Jet won't work like that with me…" Red sighed. "I've never tried so hard to impress a guy… But no matter how hard I try, he just doesn't seem to notice me…" I didn't say anything for a long time, mainly because I noticed that Red had started to cry, but also because I was thinking. Suddenly, an idea struck me. I didn't voice it until she had forced herself to stop crying.

"You should try taking off that… _thing_!" I exclaimed, motioning to her cloak.

"You mean my wolf bat cloak? But what if Walnut doesn't recognize me?"

"Who?" I had a strange feeling that I knew who Walnut was.

"My pet wolf bat." Red explained. "But I call him Walt since he doesn't like the name Walnut." She nodded for a few seconds. "So why do you want me to take off my cloak?" Red asked curiously.

"Maybe Jet needs to see what you look like outside of the cloak. If I didn't know it was you in there, I might not know that you're a girl." I explained.

"Well, Jet does tend to treat me like one of his bro friends…" Red concluded.

"Tell me how it goes!" I requested before walking to the guest tree house I was sharing with the others. "Night!" I cried before falling to sleep.

The next day I paid little attention to what was going on with the others. I spent most of my time chatting it up with Red. I talked about Ryuu and our parents. Red told me that The Duke was her little brother. At one point in the morning I walked into the guest tree house to see Sokka angrily packing his things. Soon afterwards, Katara charged in.

"We can't leave now, with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" She yelled in rage.

"Don't you mean we can't leave now, without your _boyfriend_?" I chastised.

"What? He's not my-" Katara tried to protest, her cheeks were bright red.

"Katara and Jet, sitting in a treehouse, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I taunted.

"Shut up!"

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a tree-carriage!" I finished. Katara slowly walked towards me with her hands out, as if she was trying to strangle me. I leaped out the window and grabbed hold of one of the ropes. I zipped passed the branches. The rope line ended up leading me straight to Red's tree house. She had just walked out and she wasn't wearing her wolf bat cloak.

"Tikaani?" She laughed at me. "Nice of you to swing by!" She laughed at her own pun, and I did too. I looked at her. She had shaggy reddish brown hair that went over her left eye, reddish brown eyes and she was wearing ragtag armor like many of the other Freedom Fighters. She still had a thin bat-like membrane between her arms, so she could still glide. I also noticed something different. There were blades attached to her arms.

"What are _those_?" I wondered.

"These are my arm blades." Red snickered. She flicked her arms and the blades slid forward so they looked like she could use them just like swords. Then she withdrew them.. "I was just on my way to see Jet." She smiled. "Care to watch me woo him?"

"Yes I wood like to watch you. Get it? I said 'wood' instead of 'would', and we're in a forest?" I gave her a thumbs up.

"It doesn't work if you have to explain it." She criticized. I pouted. "This way!" She grabbed a rope and swung away. She sent the rope back to me and I used it to glide over to Jet's treehouse. Red walked up to the door and knocked. Soon, Jet answered.

"Hey, I-" Jet froze when he saw Red. He stared at her and blinked a couple times as if he was completely unable to speak. "Who are you?" Jet asked in a mesmerized voice.

"Jet, its me. Red." She informed. Jet's mouth opened and closed a couple times, as if he was trying to fathom it.

"I… I've never seen you without your cloak before…" He stammered.

"Well, how does it look?" Red pressed.

"You should… Dress like this more often…" He seemed dumbstruck. He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, but I have to go… I'll talk to ya later, Red." Jet whispered, almost looking sad to leave her. He began to walk off.

"He's going to go plant the blasting jelly, isn't he?" Red sighed.

"I'm afraid so…" I shook my head. "So what are we going to do?"

"You're going to mix water with the blasting jelly so it won't blow. If you fail, Sokka will still be there to warn the villagers." She theorized. "And I still want to try to convince Jet not to blow the dam. If he can make that step on his own, he'll be different when he decides to go to Ba Sing Se."

"I'm going to mix water with the blasting jelly now. You can go hide behind a tree until you think it's the right time to convince Jet to stop." Red nodded and I headed towards the river. I knew that Jet wouldn't plant the blasting jelly until late afternoon the next day, so I crawled into a comfortable position among the rocks and fell asleep. I was awakened by loud footsteps and I peered out just in time to see Sneers and the other freedom fighters- minus Smellerbee and Pipsqueak- walking away. As soon as they were out of sight I tiptoed over to the barrels and created a wave of water that washed over them. The water mixed with the blasting jelly.

I was about to walk away, but suddenly, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked up at a tree that was at the top edge of the canyon. Longshot was glaring at me from the top of the tree. I shook and gulped slightly, but Longshot didn't make any move to try to stop me. It was hard to tell from the distance, but I thought I saw him give me a curt nod, as if he agreed with what I was doing. I returned the nod before I continued to walk away, talking to myself as I went.

"That should to it. And if the dam still blows, then Sokka would have warned the town by now." I said to myself before walking out of the gorge. I made my way to where Jet was, just in time to see him beat Aang. Katara was just about to start waterbending at him.

"Stop it, Jet!" Red ordered. She stepped out from behind a tree. "How could you? How could you even think about doing something like this?"

"Red?" Jet looked at her, surprised. "I knew you wouldn't understand! I need to free this valley from the Fire Nation!"

"Who would be free?" Red asked. "Everyone would be dead." She looked into Jet's eyes, but they were cold. Suddenly, I heard a whistle from the other side of the river. Jet was opening his mouth to reply. "If you do this, you're no better than the Fire Nation people who killed your parents!" Red accused. Jet froze. He stared at Red in horror and I could tell that he realized that Red was right. Jet whistled.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, worry clouding her eyes.

"Telling them that the plan is off." Jet whispered. Katara and Aang looked out towards the river, but nothing happened. Sokka came over the hill on Appa.

"I did it, I saved the village!" He boasted. "Wait, why hasn't the dam blown up yet?" He asked.

"Red convinced Jet not to blow up the dam. She saved everyone!" Katara cheered. She looked at Sokka. "It was a good effort, though."

"What? But I… Oh never mind..." He grumbled. "I should just be happy that everyone is safe. Now get on Appa, before he changes his mind again!" All of us were happy to oblige.

"Make sure he doesn't get into anymore trouble!" I told Red. I lowered my voice before I continued. "See you in Ba Sing Se." I winked. Red smiled.

"See you in Ba Sing Se." And with that, Sokka 'yip, yipped' and we were off. We were high in the sky when I got an idea. I stood on Appa's saddle and yelled.

"Hey, Jet! RED HAS A CRUSH ON YOU!" I shouted it at the top of my lungs before sitting down on Appa's saddle, smiling evilly.

Red's POV:

My face was bright Red. Get it? Because my name is... Oh, never mind...

"What did she say?" Jet inquired.

"You didn't hear her?" I asked, hoping that he hadn't. He shook his head.

"Too far away." Jet looked curious. "Was it important?"

"Not at all." I finished, letting out a sigh of relief. _Nice try Tikaani, but I'm not ready to tell him yet..._

_In Ba Sing Se, maybe..._

_In Ba Sing Se..._


	10. Chapter Nine: Stormy Stories at Sea

**I have an announcement to make. I am going to fine-tune some of my previous chapters. I'll be editing out mistakes and adding some more stuff. I already finished fine-tuning chapter one, and you might want to take a look at that one because I made some major changes with Tikaani's part of the story. Some things regarding the fact that she was a completely competent waterbender when she had zero experience, so I made things harder for her so that she's not perfect and stuff. That's all for now.**

Tikaani's POV:

"Look at those clear skies, buddy!" Aang mused. "Should be some smooth flying!"

"No more walking?" I gasped. We had just left the Great Divide behind and I was sick of walking. If I had to walk one more step my legs might turn into paper.

"Not so fast." Katara said. "We need to stop at a market. We're out of food."

"I told you not to give all of our food to those giant spiders, but does anyone _ever _listen to Tikaani?" I questioned. "No!"

"Guys, wait, this was in my dream!" Sokka exclaimed. "We shouldn't go to the marketplace!" Aang and Katara looked at him curiously. "Food eats people!"

"You're idiot." I stated simply.

"Also, Momo could talk! You said some very unkind things!" Sokka grumbled, glaring at Momo. The lemur's ears flattened and he looked guilty.

Ryuu's POV:

"There is a storm coming. A big one!" Iroh muttered as he took a deep breath in through his nose.

"You're out of your mind, uncle!" Zuko snapped. "The weather's perfect, there's not a cloud in sight!"

"I think we should trust your uncle's nose." I concluded, even though no one was listening.

"The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest." Iroh suggested.

"We know the avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same." Zuko sneered. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew!" Iroh urged.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" Zuko snapped.

"Excuse me?" I judged. Zuko turned around to look in my direction. He slowly walked over towards me, trying to look intimidating. It didn't really work, considering that we were the same height. I wasn't scared of Zuko.

"Finding the avatar is far more important than any individual's safety." He sneered before heading towards his quarters, slamming the door behind him. I stared after him, my eyes narrowed.

"He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up." Iroh convinced. I didn't buy it.

Tikaani's POV:

"Out of food and out of money! Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could get a job, brick head!" I chastised. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me.

"We shouldn't go out there! Please, the fish can wait!" I turned around to see the two fishers arguing. _The next episode is the Blue Spirit!_ I realized. "There's going to be a terrible storm!" The old woman cautioned.

"Gah, you're crazy, it's a nice day!" The old man grumbled. "No clouds, no wind, no nothing, so quit your nagging, woman!"

"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang suggested. I could tell he was nervous because of the bad dream he had last night.

"Are you kidding?" Sokka criticized. "Shelter from what?"

"My joints say there's going to be a storm! A bad one!" The woman argued.

"Well it's your joints against my brain!" He reasoned.

"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't coming!" The woman spat.

"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get!" The old man concluded.

"I'll go!" Sokka volunteered.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I hollered. The others looked at me oddly. "What? I want a job too! And may the odds be ever in my favor!" I said in Effie Trinket's voice.

"You're both hired!" The old man said. We began to load the ship and soon, storm clouds started rolling in.

"Sokka, Tikaani… Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Aang advised. "Look at the sky." I looked up at the clouds and shrugged.

"So? It's just a little rain? What's the worst that could happen?" I asked, knowing all too well that Sokka and I would be sick and hallucinating in the next episode. I knew that the next episode was one of my favorites. It was The Blue Spirit. I needed to be sick when the episode started, though. If I wasn't sick in the next episode, I might be tempted to go watch Zuko. That could put the entire episode in jeopardy. I had to be sick… And I had to suck on a frozen frog, whether I liked it or not. I actually kind of want to try one… I have a natural curiosity.

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense!" The woman jeered at her husband. "You should listen to him!"

"Boy with tattoos?" The old fisherman mused. He turned around to look at Aang. "Airbender tattoos. Well I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the avatar, ain't ya?" The old man asked.

"That's right!" Katara chimed. Her and Aang smiled.

"Well don't be all smiley about it! The avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!" He yelled.

"Don't yell at him!" Katara nagged. "Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

"Oh, he wouldn't, eh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." The old fisherman muttered sarcastically.

"Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" Katara asked. Unbeknownst to her, Aang was slowly backing away. "Aang what's wrong?" She asked when she noticed. Aang opened his glider and flew away.

"That's right, keep flying!" The old man hollered.

"You're a horrible old man!" Katara insulted.

"Hey! They left without saying goodbye!" I shouted.

"You're friends ain't too polite, are they?" The old man asked. Sokka joined us on the deck.

"I know! This one time I was-" Sokka began, only to be interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah… Get below deck!" He ordered. Sokka did so without hesitation.

Ryuu's POV:

"Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all." I grumbled as Zuko walked onto the deck. Thick gray storm clouds lumbered ominously on the horizon. I could here the thunder rumbling even from such a distance. This was a big storm, I could tell.

"Lucky guess…" Iroh shrugged, trying to break the tension in the air. Just then, Zuko glared at me.

"Peasant!" He shouted, stomping over to me. "You better learn some respect or I'll teach it to you." He threatened. Zuko began to walk off, but I wasn't going to let him walk away that easily.

"What do you know about respect?" I sneered. Zuko froze, but he didn't turn to look at me. "The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle shows you know nothing about respect!" I could see Iroh wincing behind me, but I paid him no mind. "Besides… I only give respect to those who deserve it. The way you've been acting ever since I boarded this ship just proves that you don't deserve my respect. You don't deserve the respect of anyone else on this crew and you don't deserve the respect that your uncle gives you! What would you care, though? You only care about yourself! What else would I expect from a spoiled prince?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed and he whipped around to face me. I narrowed my eyes as well. Both of us got into a fighting stance and headed each other off. Both of our hands started smoking as they heated up. I was prepared to give Prince Hothead a matching scar on the opposite side of his face.

"Enough!" Iroh exclaimed as he stepped between us. I stepped down immediately, but Zuko continued to give me dirty looks. "We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure that after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better." Iroh winked at me when he said noodles. He knew how much I enjoyed food. I turned and walked away, but I could still hear Zuko's voice.

"I don't need your help keeping order on my ship!" Zuko snapped. Iroh tried to calm his nephew down by placing his hand on the young prince's shoulder, but he gave his uncle the cold shoulder. Get it, cause… Oh, never mind… _Who does Zuko think he is? _I grumbled to myself as I made my way to the mess hall. The room was surprisingly empty. I sat down at the table in the corner where I usually sat. I looked around to make sure no one was listening before I started talking to myself.

"I'm sick of taking his orders and I'm tired of chasing his avatar!" I seethed. "I mean, who does Zuko think he is?" I slammed my fist down on the table and took a swig of jasmine tea.

"Do you really want to know?" Iroh's voice startled me. I spit my jasmine tea clear across the table.

"General Iroh!" I stuttered. Whipping at the tea with my sleeves and trying not to look stupid. My efforts were futile as I made myself look even more stupid. "I was just-"

"It's okay." Iroh assured. "May I join you?"

"Of course, sir!" I nodded vigorously, tea still dripping from my face. Iroh walked over and sat down across from me.

"Try to understand… My nephew is a complicated young man." Iroh started. I nodded. "He has been through much. When Zuko was thirteen, he wanted to attend a war meeting. I told him it was not a good idea, but he pressed for it. I let him into the war meeting. When we were in there, Zuko heard a dreadful plan from one of the generals. His plan was to use a battalion of new recruits as bait while the experienced soldiers launched a sneak attack from the rear. Zuko spoke out against the plan. He thought it wrong to betray them in such a way. Zuko was right, you see, but it was not his place to speak out and there were dire consequences. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect and there was only one way to resolve this." Iroh looked away sadly.

"An Agni Kai?" My eyes widened. "He didn't order a thirteen-year-old kid to fight an Agni Kai…" I was horrified.

"He did. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the general. Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own father."

"What?" My eyes widened. "He… He had to fight the Fire Lord?" Iroh nodded.

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy. He refused to fight his father. Ozai did not hesitate. He decided to teach Prince Zuko a lesson that day… I looked away…" Iroh closed his eyes to finish his tale. That was when I realized that Zuko hadn't obtained his scar under normal circumstances. His father had given it to him.

"I… I always thought that he'd been in a training accident…" I trailed off.

"It was no accident. After the duel the Fire Lord said that by refused to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished and sent to capture the avatar. Only then could he return with his honor." Iroh finished.

"That's why he's so obsessed… Capturing the avatar is the only way he can return home. It's the only way he can restore his honor. It's the only way for things to return to normal." I mused. Iroh shook his head.

"Things will never return to normal, but the important thing is that the avatar gives Zuko hope." Iroh said. I was about to nod, but suddenly I heard a loud crash. "The storm!" Iroh cried. We ran onto the deck. The rest of the crew, along with Prince Zuko, had already gathered.

"Where were we hit?" Zuko shouted through the wind and rain of the rumbling typhoon.

"I don't know!" I tried to look around, but there was dirty rainwater in my eyes. Suddenly I noticed a wisp of smoke up by the helmsman's peak. "Look!" I pointed. The lookout deck was completely destroyed and the helmsman was hanging off the edge.

"The helmsman!" Zuko called. Zuko ran over to a ladder that led up to the helmsman's peak. I followed him up the ladder. Suddenly, the ship hit a large wave and the helmsman slipped. He fell, but Zuko grabbed his arm and lowered him down to me. Lucky for him, he was skinny and light. I looked up at Zuko. He smiled. I smiled and nodded. _We saved the say!_ I thought excitedly to myself. We brought the helmsman down to the deck. Some guards took him below, where it was dry. We were about to follow them. "The avatar!" Zuko cried. I looked towards the sky to see the sky bison flying through the storm.

"What should we do?" I asked Prince Zuko.

"Let him go." Zuko ordered. My eyes widened. "We need to get this ship to safety."

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm." Iroh smiled.

Tikaani's POV:

For the record, this was a terrible idea. I lost my breakfast over the edge of the ship. _How does Zuko do it?_ I thought as we hit another wave. I was like this before we left port, before the storm even started. As the waves increased, so did my seasickness. _Never again. No more boats. EVER._ I promised myself, hoping never to break the promise. _Come on Aang, please save us…_

"I'm too young to die!" Sokka cried.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna!" The old man cheered. Just then, Appa showed up and I leaped through the air, grabbing hold of Appa's rains and climbing my way into the saddle. I curled up in a fetal position and promised myself that I'd never get on a boat ever again. Aang brought Sokka and the old man onto the saddle.

"Wave!" I cried. A huge tower stretched over us. _If I die in the anime, do I die in real life? _I wondered as the wave crashed down on us. We were swept into the ocean. We all would have died, had Aang not entered the avatar state and saved our friggin' butts! We flew off, into the sky. I looked back at Zuko as he watched us fly away. He was so sad… I wished I could slap that scar off his face… He'd probably like that… I giggled to myself and collapsed onto the saddle, unconscious.


	11. Chapter Ten: The Dark Spirits

Ryuu's POV:

"Absolutely not! The Yuyan archers stay here." Colonel Shinu refused. "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."

"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider. Their precision is legendary. The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred miles away without killing it. You're wasting their talents, using them as mere security guards." Zhao paused. I watched from the shadows as one archer split a previous arrow in two. I know, I know… I should have better things to do than stalk Commander Zhao. I would have better things to do, except that Zuko had snuck off the ship. I was heading to my room and I noticed that his door was open. When I went to close it, I noticed that Zuko wasn't there. There were three masks lying on his bed. I recognized them from the play _Love Amongst the Dragons_.

I really loved the mask of the Dragon Emperor, Noren, so I tried it on. I didn't mean to snoop, but I kind of wondered why he had an assortment of masks from _Love Amongst the Dragons_. I wondered if he had anymore, so I kind of searched his room. I didn't find anything, except for this really cool ninja uniform. After I changed into it, I thought I might see how stealthy I could be. I decided to go to Colonel Shinu's base, cause Zhao was there.

"I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers and what I say goes." Colonel Shinu argued.

"But my search for the avatar is-"

"Is nothing but a vanity project! We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got, commander!" Shinu stated.

"But-" Zhao's efforts to convince Shinu were futile.

"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about it!" Shinu snapped. I snickered. _Tough luck, Zhao, but it looks like_- I froze when I heard the shriek of a hawk. I looked up to see a messenger hawk flying towards Shinu. He opened the message and his eyes widened.

"News from Fire Lord Ozai?" Zhao snatched the paper out of his hands and skimmed over it. He snickered. "It appears I've been promoted to admiral. My request… is now an order." Shinu responded by bowing to Zhao before he walked away. _What? Admiral? Like he deserves such a position! Why don't you just slap a crown on my head and call me Earth King while you're at it?_ I thought before angrily turning around. I froze when I came face to face with another masked ninja. Who'd a thunk that another masked ninja would be spying on Zhao. This ninja was wearing a mask of the Dark Water Spirit, another mask from _Love Amongst the Dragons_. That's when I realized that the only mask that I hadn't seen in Zuko's room was the Dark Water Spirit mask.

I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better of it. The last thing I wanted was to be discovered by Zhao. The other ninja and I left soundlessly and wordlessly. He didn't say anything until we were back in his room.

"Why did you follow me?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't follow you. I just felt like stalking Zhao." I explained. "And if you're going to sneak away in a ninja costume, at least bother shutting the door before you go!" I chastised. Zuko glared at me.

"And GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" He hollered, shoving me out and slamming the door behind him. I smirked because I was still wearing the mask and ninja costume. _Yay, now I get to keep it!_

Tikaani's POV:

"You know what I love about Appa the most? His sense of humor!" Sokka mumbled. He began to sweat and I shivered. _So this is what it feels like to be delusional?_ I thought in my last moments of sanity. _I can't wait!_ I started to shiver more violently. I swear I was shivering so bad that my brain had turned to liquid and was now oozing out my ears. I crossed and uncrossed my eyes, fathoming at how my vision was getting so in and out of focus.

"That's nice." Katara stated sweetly. "I'll tell him."

"I bet you wouldn't think me funny if I threw you off a cliffside." Appa roared indignantly. Sokka and I both began to laugh.

"Classic Appa!" We cheered. I snorted a little.

"How are Sokka and Tikaani doing?" Aang worried.

"Not good. Being out in that storm really did a number on them." Katara explained. She placed cold cloths onto our heads. I shivered and sweated at the same time. My eye twitched.

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea." Aang confessed. "But I found a map. There's an herbalist institute on the top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka and Tikaani there."

"Aang, these two are in no condition to travel!" Katara protested. "They just need more rest. I'm sure they'll be better by tomorrow." She smiled, but a bout of coughing soon came over her.

"Not you too!" Aang mused sorrowfully.

"Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi-" Katara was interrupted by another, more severe bout of coughing. She moaned afterwards.

"That's how they started yesterday! Now look at them! Sokka thinks he's an earthbender and Tikaani thinks she's in love with Zuko!"

"Take that you rock!" Sokka grumbled as he tried to earthbend.

"Wherefore art thou Zuko?" I cried. _As long as I'm delusional, I might as well confess my love._

"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too." Aang added. "I'm going to find some medicine!" Aang opened his glider and walked towards the edge of the building. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Maybe it's safer if I go on foot. Keep an eye on them, guys." Aang said to Appa and Momo. The two of them roared.

"Why must you condemn us to this suffering?" They asked.

"Oh, you guys are killing me!" Sokka laughed. I vaguely wondered if he was hearing different things than I was.

Ryuu's POV:

"We haven't been able to pick up the avatar's trail since the storm." I stated as I pointed at the map. We were strategizing in the helmsman's peak. Neither of us said a word about what had happened the previous evening. "But if we continue heading northeast-" I stopped as a shadow passed over the map. Looking out the window I saw a huge ship. _Zhao._ I sneered, remembering my last run in with the brain dead admiral.

"What do they want?" Zuko sneered.

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho!" Iroh cheered.

"I don't think they want to play a game." I muttered. Five of Zhao's guards stormed onto our ship and into the helmsman's peak. One of the guards pulled out a wanted poster of the avatar.

"The hunt for the avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the avatar must be reported to Admiral Zhao." The guard informed.

"Zhao's been promoted? Well good for him!" Iroh congratulated. I rolled my eyes. _I respect Iroh and all, but why does he have to be so kind to that deluded hog monkey?_

"I've got nothing to report to Zhao." Zuko growled. "Now get off my ship, and let us pass!" He ordered.

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The guard stated firmly. I knew that Zuko was going to lose his cool.

"Off my ship!" He stormed. The guard nodded before calmly leaving with the rest of them. I glared after them. _Not letting us pass?Is Zhao afraid we'll get in the way of his plans _again_?_

"Excellent! I take the put!" Iroh cheered as he cleared the Pai Sho board. "But you are all improving! I'm certain you will win if we play again." Iroh convinced. I had to chuckle. No one could beat Iroh; I've tried and failed.

"I'm going down to the deck." Zuko grunted before leaving the room. I watched him go. I wanted to follow him, but decided against it. He needed to blow of some steam. About an hour later, Iroh walked up to me.

"Let's go talk to Prince Zuko." He suggested. I nodded. Even though I had trouble getting along with Zuko sometimes, I couldn't help but worry about him. I guess I also felt sorry for him. His own father challenged him to an Agni Kai at the age of thirteen, then banished him because he refused to fight. We came out onto the main deck to see Zuko blowing fireballs into the sky.

"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked. "It has been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order!"

"I don't care what they do." Zuko snapped.

"Sweet!" I cheered. "I'm going to go get a massage and-" I stopped as Iroh motioned with his hand for me to do so. My mouth clamped shut.

"Don't give up hope, yet. You can still find the avatar before Zhao." Iroh said.

"How uncle?" Zuko asked hopelessly. "With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the avatar." Zuko slowly walked over to the edge of the deck. His arms hung loosely at his side, he was looking at the ground and he didn't even seem to notice as a cold wind blew through the air. "My honor… My throne… My country… I'm about to lose them all."

"Oh no…" I breathed. The paper slipped out of my hand and floated to the deck of the ship. I turned around to look at the messenger hawk that had brought the message to me. "Get away from here!" I snarled, blasting a fireball in the hawk's direction. It let out an undignified screeched before flapping frantically out of the way. The hawk tried to swoop down at me for revenge, but I ran into the ship and slammed the door behind me. I walked to Zuko's room. "Bad news. Zhao's-"

"Captured the avatar?" The spoiled prince spat. "I knew he would." I gulped. He was not in a good mood. That was not a good thing for anyone on this ship.

"Zuko, I…" I trailed off, trying to think of something. Suddenly, my eyes fell upon the Dark Water Spirit mask, lying on his bedside table. "Zhao might have the avatar now, but he won't for long." I smiled evilly. _Best. Plan. Ever._

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked, glaring at me. He followed my eyes to the mask. His eye widened and he snickered. The idea passed between us silently as we both plotted what we were going to do.

"And I'm not letting you go alone." I promised. "It was my idea, so-"

"So you better get ready quickly." Zuko smirked. My eyes widened. He wasn't even going to try stopping me? _He's probably going to leave me there on purpose or something. Totally worth it!_

It was way too easy to sneak into that place. Seriously, you'd think they would notice two ninjas in brightly colored masks entering a secret fortress. Of course Zuko had made me switch masks. Now I wore the mask of the dragon empress. He said it was because the dragon emperor mask was red, so it could give us away as Fire Nation citizens. I still couldn't believe I had to wear a girl's mask.

Once we were inside we easily knocked out the guards blocking the room where the avatar was being kept. When we opened the door, the kid stared at us in terror. We both drew our swords and he screamed. I supposed he thought we were torturers hired to torture him.

Zuko and I raced forward and slashed the chains that bound him.

"Who are you?" Aang asked. Neither of us said a thing. It was part of our cover. We couldn't risk someone recognizing our voices. "What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" Zuko walked over to the door ad opened it, motioning for the avatar to follow. "I'll take that as a yes." He stated. He followed Zuko and I walked our after him. I needed to make sure we stayed on schedule and this kid was walking slowly.

"My frogs!" exclaimed. "Come back! And stop thawing out!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him away. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" He shouted loudly. _Water tribe people like sucking on frogs? Man, this kid has the weirdest friends. I pity him and envy him at the same time._

We snuck through the pipes. I couldn't believe we were even able to leave the fortress. Zuko and I peered out from beneath the pipes and checked around for any guards. There didn't seem to be too many so we hopped out. The kid followed us. We were climbing the same rope we used to climb in when the alarm sounded.

"There, on the wall!" A guard cried. I was so shocked that I accidentally started sliding down the rope. I quickly regained control, though. I climbed as fast as I could, but Zuko and the avatar were in front of me. A guard on the wall sliced the rope we were climbing and we plummeted towards the ground. The avatar used his airbending to save us and I had to commend him.

Zuko pointed his swords towards the open gates. I nodded and we began to rush towards the gates.

"The avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" Zhao's order echoed across the grounds and the guards came out to stop us.

"Stay close to me!" The avatar said, running in front of us. He airbended a large group of guards out of the way. We headed towards the gates again, but a group of guards surrounded Zuko and I. The kid ran ahead. He was a fast runner. He would definitely make it out of this fortress, but what about Zuko and I? We weren't going to get out of here.

I sliced off some spearheads as the guards tried to jab us. I vaguely remembered training with Master Piandao. It was one of the few things that I was lucky enough to remember when I needed it most. I looked back at the kid, but he wasn't trying to get through the doors anymore. He was fighting some guards. _What is he doing? This is his chance to get out of here… And the doors are closed._ I thought just as they clanged shut. Zuko and I jumped as the kid sliced the guards away with his airbending. It bothered me how most of our actions were mirrored. _Wait, what is he-?_

The avatar boosted us up over the wall with a powerful gust of air. We both landed on our feet, but a moment later guards surrounded us again. I was prepared to fight them off, but the airbender swooped us into the air. We were hovering high above the ground. The guards started chucking spears at us. Zuko and I sliced the spears midair. I was hoping that this hovering would work, but I could tell that the kid was having a hard time staying airborne. The spears they were hurling at us didn't help the situation. We just so managed to make it to the second wall.

The guards surrounded us once again. _Again!_ I complained in my head. _That is the third time that guards have surrounded us. Make it stop!_ I looked at the edge of the walls to see a group of guards climbing some ladders onto the wall. The avatar used his airbending to knock the guards off the ladder. He picked up the two ladders and came over to us.

"Take this!" He ordered. I took one ladder and Zuko took the other. The kid jumped on the ladder and used it like a stilt. "Jump on my back!" Zuko and I took a flying leap. Zuko landed on the kids back, I landed on Zuko's back and I thanked the spirits that I didn't weigh a lot. The kid used the first two ladders to cross the courtyard in a few swift movements. "Give me the next one!" The ladder was almost to the wall, but a guard just had to light it on fire, didn't he? The three of us leaped for the wall, but none of us could make the jump. We landed right in front of the doors, but they were clamped shut. Guards immediately ran out to surround us.

_We just can't get a break today, can we? _I thought to myself, preparing to fight the guards. They let loose powerful blasts of fire. The kid jumped in front of us and created a protective bubble of air around us.

"Hold your fire!" Zhao ordered as he stepped through the crowd of guards. A few seconds and the fire was gone. "The avatar must be captured alive!"

In a split second, Zuko lunged forwards, pressing his swords into the kid's neck. I stared. _Zuko, you little genius, you!_ Zuko and Zhao glared at one another for a short while.

"Open the gates…" Zhao growled.

"Admiral, what are you doing?" Colonel Shinu asked.

"Let them out!" He ordered angrily. "Now!"

Slowly, the gates opened. Zuko walked backwards and I did as well, standing in front of the kid, just in case they got any funny ideas. I watched the gates close, but did not let my guard down. We were almost to the woods. We were almost to safety. I watched Zhao cautiously as he glared at us from atop the outermost wall. He was up to something; he was going to try something. I couldn't have expected what it was, though. At least, not until the arrow hit my forehead and everything went black.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a bright green forest. All of the colors were blurred and mashed together. I blinked a couple times to clear my vision. I turned my head slightly and saw the avatar sitting on a tree root. He seemed sort of sad and I didn't know why. _What am I doing here? _I wondered. _This kid… He… He didn't… What happened? _I suddenly sat up, but when I did, pain exploded inside my head.

"Man… My head hurts…" I muttered. "What happened?"

"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?" The kid wondered aloud. I knew it was a rhetorical question.

"No. What?" I asked, sort of dazed.

"I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us… We'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I've ever had. And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you." He paused and I thought about it. "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" I thought about it.

"Yeah." I smiled and nodded. "You're really wise for a kid." I stated. "I don't even know your name…" I trailed off.

"Its Aang." He informed.

"I'm Ryuu." I told him my name in turn. I also promised never to call him 'the avatar' again. I was going to address him by name. "Why did you save us? We've been hunting you down for so long now."

"Well… I couldn't leave you there." Aang mumbled. "I don't know why, I just _couldn't_ have left you there. Why did you save me?"

"To tell you the truth…" I trailed off. How was I supposed to tell him that we only rescued him so we could capture him? "We only rescued you because we didn't want Zhao to succeed. I know that sounds selfish, but…"

"I would have done the same thing in your situation." He sympathized.

"No, you wouldn't have. You would have saved you just because you like saving people. I did it for selfish reasons. I wanted- no, I needed to confront Zhao. He knows who my parents are. He knows what happened to them. I don't know how he knows, but he mentioned it at Roku's temple." I confessed my secrets. I don't know why. I had never even told Iroh these thoughts. How could I tell a complete stranger?

"You don't know who your parents are?" Aang questioned sadly. I closed my eyes and nodded.

"Zuko and Iroh found me floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the ocean. When I woke up, I had this scar and I could only remember my name." I sighed. "If I could just get Zhao to tell me something, anything about my parents… I might be able to remember them."

"I never knew my parents. It never really bothered me, though. I had Gyatso, the monk who trained me, and friends from every nation…" Aang smiled. "And now I have friends who can help me, even if all my friends from a hundred years ago are gone." I nodded slowly as I listened. I was about to reply, but someone shot a ball of fire towards Aang. He leaped into the trees and disappeared from sight.

"What's your problem?" I shouted at Zuko. _Had he been listening that entire time? _"I was trying to have a conversation!" Zuko didn't say anything. He just stared off as Aang left.

"Let's get back to the ship." He muttered after a long silence. I nodded.

Tikaani's POV:

"Suck on these. They'll make you feel better." Aang promised as he made us suck on the frozen frogs. They actually didn't taste to bad.

"Make any new friends?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Yeah… I think so…" Aang mumbled before collapsing onto Appa's tail. I raised an eyebrow. That wasn't right. Did Zuko do something different? Unless… _Ryuu! He must have talked to Ryuu!_

"Mm, this is tasty!" Sokka exclaimed as he sucked on a frozen frog. The frog thawed out and Sokka spat it out. He started wiping his tongue on Appa to get the germs out of his mouth, and Katara squealed in disgust before discarding hers. I simply spat the frog out.

"Can I get another one of those frogs?" I asked. Sokka and Katara looked at me as if I was messed up. "What? It was tasty!"


	12. Chapter Eleven: Love's Good Fortune

Tikaani's POV:

"Look!" Katara cried, pointing at the river. A fish leaped out of the water.

"He is taunting us!" Sokka exclaimed. "You are so gonna be dinner!" He ran over to the tent and pulled out a fishing rod. When he ran back to the shore, however, he realized that the line was gone. "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka." Aang explained, holding up a necklace and smiling. Sokka stared at the necklace.

"It's all tangled!" He complained.

"Not tanged, woven!" Aang corrected. "I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…" He smiled as he held up the necklace.

"Thanks, Aang, I love it." Katara said as she took the necklace.

"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sure he has time for both." I stated, finally joining the conversation. I had been sun bathing on a rock the whole time. I heard a splash and saw Sokka throw the fishing pole at the fish. "Wow, Sokka, nice throw!" I smiled as he missed. I watched his futile attempts to catch the fish and rolled my eyes.

"You could do better?" Sokka snapped. I smirked.

"My pleasure." I waterbended the fish out of the water, dropped it onto the rock in front of me, and then killed it. Sokka narrowed his eyes at me. I flashed an evil smile for a split second before I noticed what was going on by the shore.

"How do I look?" Katara asked Aang.

"You mean all of you, or just your neck? Because both look great!" Aang flirted. Sokka and I both made kissy faces.

"Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love!" Sokka cheered.

"Katara and Aang, sitting on Appa, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I teased.

"Stop teasing him! Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, just like Momo!" Katara cooed. I could tell that Aang looked hurt.

"Thanks…" He whispered slowly. I felt sorry for him, even though I'm a Taanger.

"What's that?" I asked as I heard a loud roar.

"Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!" Aang exclaimed. I watched the platypus bear attack the strange man. Aang, Katara and Sokka shouted advice for what he should do, but he didn't listen. He swerved and ducked to avoid the platypus bear's claws, but he didn't strike back. Appa managed to sneak up behind the platypus bear and roar. The platypus bear laid an egg before scurrying off in fear. Sokka picked up the egg.

"Mm, lunch!" He purred before turning to the strange man. "Lucky for you we came along."

"Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry." The strange man stated calmly.

"That thing would have eaten you up and spit you out!" I shouted. "You are so lucky that Appa managed to scare it away, otherwise we'd all be dead."

"No, no. Aunt Wu predicted I would have a safe journey." The stranger smiled. "You saved me, so I am safe!"

"Aunt Wu? Who is that supposed to be?" I asked, even though I already knew who she was. She was this crazy old fortuneteller from this crazy old village.

"She is the fortuneteller from my village." He explained.

"So she said you'd have a safe journey?" I asked. He nodded. "You almost got killed by a platypus bear! How is that safe?"

"I didn't die. I am perfectly fine! Have a good one." He smiled and almost walked off. "Oh, and Aunt Wu told me to give this to any travelers I might meet." He handed Aang and Katara an umbrella. As soon as he had left, the clouds opened up and rain came down. Katara and Aang huddled under the umbrella, I created an umbrella using my waterbending, and Sokka was left in the rain. It stopped raining before we reached the village, which made sense because it was only a light shower.

"Let's get this fortune stuff over with." I muttered. We walked into Aunt Wu's fortune telling place. I looked around at the room. There were four pillows for sitting on. _How convenient._

"My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." A girl explained as she walked into the room. She stared at Aang for a few moments. He was itching his nose. "Well hello there."

"Hello." Aang said simply. He didn't seem to notice the way she looked at him. I rolled my eyes and collapsed onto a pillow. I didn't pay attention to Meng as she flirted with Aang. I just wanted to get this over with. And to find out if I'd end up with Zuko or if he'd chose Mai over me. Soon Meng left.

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense." Sokka complained.

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained." Katara piped up. "Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?" She asked.

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs!" Sokka countered.

"Welcome young travelers." I sat up as I heard a kind old woman's voice. It was Aunt Wu, respectively. "Now who's next? Don't be shy."

"Me!" I exclaimed, leaping to my feet. Sokka, Katara and Aang stared at me with their eyebrows raised. I smiled a corny smile. "I mean… I would like to know my future, please." Aunt Wu nodded and led me to the room of her fortunes. There were two pillows. She sat upon one and I placed my bum upon another. I held out my hand for her to read. "So… What do you see? Anything about… Oh, I don't know… Maybe my love line or something like that…" I tried to sound casual.

"Very well." Aunt Wu took my hand and proceeded to read my palms. "I can see a great romance in your future. The man you are going to marry… He will be a very powerful bender." My eyes widened. _Please don't let it be Aang. That's exactly what she said to Katara in this episode, and she married Aang! But Zuko is a powerful bender too._ "He is a conflicted young man." She finished. _Definitely Zuko!_ I thought happily.

"Thank you so much, Aunt Wu!" I cheered before leaving the room. There was a huge smile on my face. As I entered the waiting room, I noticed Sokka glaring at me. "You'll never guess-"

"I don't care…" Sokka mumbled. He seemed really upset.

"Are you okay, Sokka?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great!" Sokka muttered sarcastically. I wondered what his problem was. That was when I realized that Sokka had been eavesdropping. _Red said that he still had a crush on me. Now I feel so bad for him. Aunt Wu predicted that I'd marry a powerful bender, and Sokka isn't a bender at all. He knows that we won't be together, that's why he's so upset._

"Sokka, we're friends. You can tell me what's bothering you." I coaxed.

"Listen, Tikaani, I don't want to talk right now." Sokka grumbled. He got up and left the room. Aunt Wu walked in after he left.

"Who's next?" She asked.

"I want to go next!" Katara mused. She followed Aunt Wu. I decided to walk out after Sokka. He was sitting against the wall of Aunt Wu's place. I stood there in silence, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. After a while, Aang and Katara walked out of the building. We started to walk away.

"Well now you got to see for yourselves that fortunetelling is just a big stupid hoax." Sokka chastised as we walked away. I looked away awkwardly. As much as I liked Sokka, I only thought of him as a friend.

"You didn't even have your fortune read." Katara scolded. "Maybe if you had, you wouldn't be so grumpy."

"None of Aunt Wu's predictions could make me feel any better or worse than I already feel!" Sokka argued.

"Why are you acting so grumpy anyways?" Katara asked.

"Because of how stupid you all are to believe in Aunt Wu's stupid predictions!" Sokka exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. "Well you can believe in whatever you want to believe in. I don't think any of it is true. I can determine my own future!" He exclaimed before storming off. I looked away guiltily.

"What's going on over there?" Aang asked. I looked up to see the crowd gathered around the shrine in the center of the village. Aunt Wu was standing there.

"The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Mikapu will remain dormant for another year, or if it will erupt." A village woman explained.

"We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves, but ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of not doing that." Another man explained. I recognized him as the one who almost got killed by the platypus bear. I paid him no mind and listened to all of Aunt Wu's predictions.

"Wavy moon-shape cloud, let's see… Gonna be a great year for twins!" Aunt Wu predicted. I thought about Ryuu.

"Oh, yeah!" I cheered, just a little too loud. Everyone stared at me quizzically, as it didn't appear that I had a twin. The crowd paid little attention after that, but Katara and Aang continued to stare at me.

"And a cumulus cloud, with a twisty lump coming off the end of it. The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" Aunt Wu cried. The crowd cheered and dispersed, leaving me to explain to Aang and Katara.

"You have a twin?" Aang asked. I nodded slowly.

"Where is she? Why didn't you tell us before?" Katara asked.

"Not 'she,' 'he.'" I explained. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to talk about it. I don't think he remembers me." I sighed.

"He's your brother." Aang stated. "How could he not remember you?"

"We were attacked by a powerful firebender. He told me to go while he distracted her. I had no choice but to run. My brother was hurt badly. He's fine now, but I think that he lost his memory after the fight." I sighed again. This was the first time I was telling them something about myself that wasn't a downright lie. "The last couple times I've seen him, he hasn't shown any signs that he even recognized me. What if he never remembers?" I asked sadly. I sighed again and looked at the ground.

"What is his name?" Katara inquired. I gulped. Both of them would freak out when I told them. Both of them would think of him as an enemy. What if they thought of me as an enemy as well? I couldn't do it.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore…" I whispered. Katara and Aang looked at one another before they slowly walked away. I was about to go my own direction when I heard someone panting.

"The volcano!" Sokka ran through the crowd. "The volcano, it's going to-"

"Oh… Hey, Sokka…" I wondered why he'd gone up to the volcano. In the episode, him and Aang went up together to find a panda lily for- _Crap! Sokka went to the volcano to get me a panda lily? _My eyes widened. _If he gives it to me now there's no way I'll be able to reject him! _I was about to go into a panic attack. Luckily, Sokka interrupted me.

"The volcano is going to erupt!" Sokka exclaimed. "I don't care what Aunt Wu said, I went up there myself and it is going to _blow_!" Just as Sokka said that, the earth began to rumble. Loud booms echoed from the Mt. Mikapu. Aang and Katara ran through the marketplace, looking for us.

"The volcano is-" Aang began, but I cut him off.

"We know! We have to tell the villagers!" I exclaimed. I ran to the shrine that Aunt Wu had made her volcano prediction from. All the villagers stopped to look at me. "That volcano is going to blow any second! Aunt Wu was wrong!" I shouted. The villagers looked at each other doubtfully. I could tell that none of them believed a word I said. "Sokka saw the lava with his own eyes!"

"I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears!" One of the villagers argued. Aang leaped onto one of the buildings.

"Please listen to us! You are all in danger!" Aang urged. "And we have to get out of here. You can't rely on Aunt Wu's predictions. You have to take fate into your own hands!" As soon as Aang finished, a loud 'boom' echoed through the air. The earth trembled again and all the villagers looked at the mountain. They had to be able to see the thick smoke rising from it.

"Can your fortune telling explain that?" Sokka asked, pointing at the volcano.

"Can your science explain why it rains?" A villager criticized.

"Yes, yes it can!" Sokka snapped. The villagers dispersed and Aang leaped off the roof to join us.

"They won't listen to reason." Katara mumbled sadly.

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" Aang exclaimed.

"I have an idea!" I cheered. "First we need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book…" I trailed off. The others seemed to get my jiff. Katara, Sokka and I stood watch outside while Aang went in. Soon he came out with the cloud reading book. We hopped on Appa and flew threw the clouds, bending them into the shape that would predict volcanic doom. As soon as it was complete, Sokka would go get Aunt Wu and the villagers would know about the danger. As soon as the clouds were done, we swooped down and landed in the village.

"We can still save the village if we act fast!" Aang said. "Sokka has a plan."

"Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river." Sokka explained.

"If any of you are earthbenders, come with me." Aang called.

"Everyone else, grab a shovel!" Sokka ordered. Another shockwave hit. "Come on, we've got to hurry!" Sokka exclaimed. The villagers ran as quickly as possible to get the job done. They did it quickly, and there were quite a lot of earthbenders to help. I even helped out with the digging.

"Everyone needs to evacuate!" Aang called as the volcano shook again. The smoke coming from it was jet black and the lava was glowing a bright orange color. "We'll come for you when it's safe!" All the villagers left the village. Aang, Katara, Sokka and I stood at the edge of the trench to watch as it filled with lava.

"Its too much!" Katara shouted above the shock waves.

"The trench isn't deep enough! It's going to overflow!" I yelled above the crackling flames. Katara and Sokka began to run, but Aang and I stood our ground. They stopped when they noticed that we were still standing there. Aang rushed forward and used a powerful airbending move to cool the lava, putting out most of the flames. I watched in awe.

"Wow… Sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is…" Sokka whispered woefully. "He's not conflicted, though…"

"Wait… What did you just say?" Katara asked.

"Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender." Sokka replied casually.

"I suppose he is…" Katara whispered to herself.

"Just friends, huh?" I whispered in her ear.

"Shut up!" She snapped. I smiled.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Bato

Tikaani's POV:

"Look at this nifty sword!" I called, pulling a whale tooth sword out of the ground. "Sokka! Isn't this a weapon from the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Let me see that!" Sokka exclaimed. He took the sword out of my hand. He looked at the sword and I knew he was having a flashback. "Yes. This _is_ a Water Tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else!" He said to Aang and I. Katara had stopped to replenish her bending water supply. We began searching just as she caught up.

"Did you lose something?" She asked us.

"No, we found something!" Aang exclaimed excitedly.

"It's burned." Sokka informed as he picked a spear off the ground. "There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders. The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill." Sokka ran down the hill and we followed. I had to commend his great detective work. When we reached the end of the hill, we were at an empty beach.

"The trail ends here." I muttered, kicking the sand. I looked around. "What's _that_?" I asked, pointing towards a boat. Katara and Sokka stared at it before running over to it.

"Its one of our boats!" Sokka exclaimed, racing over to it.

"Is this dad's boat?" Katara asked.

"No, but its from his fleet." Sokka concluded. "Dad was here."

We set up camp beside the boat. I listened to Katara and Sokka's water tribe stories all day. It made me wonder about my life in the North Pole. I was so young when I left that it was hard for me to remember what it was like there. I knew most of what I knew from watching the show, but I couldn't recall what it was _actually _like to live there.

Aang and Katara fell asleep quickly, but Sokka and I sat by the fire for a while. We sat in silence, as there wasn't much to talk about. There was a lot to think about, though. I wondered if my dad was still living in the Northern Water Tribe. I wondered if I would recognize him when I saw him. And then... I thought about my parents from the real world.

It always hurt to remember them. My mom died in a car crash when I was twelve years old. After the incident, my father went insane and he had to be placed in an institution. Riker and I have limited visiting hours because our foster parents don't want us to be around anyone who's mentally insane. He doesn't remember us anyway. That was one of the reasons that Riker's memory loss hurt so bad. He was the only family that I had left and now... He doesn't even remember me either.

"Who's there?" Sokka's voice shakes me back to the present. He is looking at a tall figure moving through the shadows. A man in Southern Water Tribe clothing stepped into the firelight.

"Sokka?" He asked.

"Bato?" Sokka gaped.

"Who the what now?" Aang asked.

"Bato!" Katara exclaimed.

"Sokka! Katara!" They ran up to him and hugged him. "It is so good to see you two! You've grown so much…" Bato mused.

"Hi, I'm Aang." The young airbender introduced himself.

"And I'm Tikaani." I added.

"Where's dad?" Sokka asked curiously.

"Is he here?" Katara inquired excitedly.

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now." Bato explained. A breeze blew and all of them shivered. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside." Bato gestured for Aang and I to follow as well. Bato led us to the village of nuns. Aang and I felt kind of left out, but we followed. Bato shared stories as we walked along. "After I was wounded, you're father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since." Bato explained. "Superior! These are Hakoda's children. They are traveling with the avatar and this other girl. I found them by my boat."

"Young avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey." She greeted. I could tell that I would be especially left out in this episode.

"Thank you. It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything-"

"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka interjected.

"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes." Bato informed.

"Perfumes? Maybe we could dump some on Appa because he stinks to much, am I right?" Sokka jested, smiling widely.

"You have your father's whit." Bato stated flatly. He led us all towards a house. When we walked inside, there were animal skins on the walls, and even a tent in the corner.

"Bato, it looks like home!" Katara cried.

"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka mused.

"Yeah… Nothing's cozier than dead animal skins." Aang grumbled. Aang and I sat by as Bato, Katara and Sokka shared stories and sea prunes. I tried a couple, but I spit them out. They tasted horrible. The stories Bato told were a little interesting, but I wasn't listening. I was being excluded. It didn't feel good.

Ryuu's POV:

"See, Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well being." Iroh explained as he poured a cup of tea for the prince and I. We were sitting cross-legged around a very short table, sipping Iroh's expertly made Jasmine tea. Just as Zuko began to take a sip, I heard a loud boom and the ship shook. Zuko's tea was all over him and his ponytail was hanging over his face.

"Ha ha ha!" I laughed. "That's a good look for you, Zuko!" I complimented. He slammed his teacup onto the table before storming out of the room. "Guess we better go see what that banging noise was." I muttered. When I arrived on the main deck, I saw a lady riding a huge, hideous beast. The crew ran away from the giant beast as it snarled at them. I smiled charmingly and waved at the pretty rider.

"Get back! We're after a stowaway!" She informed. Zuko lumbered forward.

"There are no stowaways on my ship!" Zuko sneered. The hideous beast ripped a hole in the deck of the ship and stuck his head in, sniffing frantically.

"What the-?" I gaped at the gaping hole in the ship's deck. "You have no idea how much money its gonna take to make those repairs!" I hollered angrily. She didn't seem to notice. "Seriously, there are no-" I stopped when a man ran out of the hole in the deck. He was obviously a stowaway. He began to run, but the hideous beast lashed its tongue and the man fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"He's paralyzed!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Only temporarily." The girl informed. "The toxins will ware off in about an hour, but by then, he'll be in jail and I'll have my reward." She snickered.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko asked.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." She smirked before hopping aboard the creature and racing off.

"Well, I'm impressed." I admitted. "Very impressed…" Zuko glared at me venomously. "What? I bet that thing could find Aang faster than we could!" I really didn't mean to say it, but it kind of slipped out.

"You're right." He smiled. "You're absolutely right…" I hated my habit of voicing ideas out loud before thinking them through. I really didn't want to fight that kid. How could I tell him all that personal stuff about myself, and then stab him in the back? I see why Zuko didn't want me fraternizing with the enemy now. I didn't know which side to stand for.

Zuko tracked June's location to a bar nearby. We walked through the crowd of onlookers as she wrestled at a table in the center of the bar.

"Out of my way!" Zuko snarled. "Step aside, filth!" He pushed some drunkards out of his way as we headed towards June.

"He means no offense! I'm certain you bathe regularly!" Iroh soothed as we walked through the crowd. Zuko stormed up to the table as she arm-wrestled.

"I need to talk to you!" He shouted above the crowd.

"Well if it isn't my new friends; angry boy, peasant guy and uncle lazy." She sneered. Iroh and I laughed at this statement. Zuko didn't find it funny. Just then, she slammed her opponent's fist to the table and the crowd cheered. They started tossing money at her.

"Your beast trashed my ship!" Zuko stormed. "You have to pay me back!"

"Well I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." She snickered as she gathered the piles of coins on the table in front of her. "Drinks are on me!" She hollered. The crowd cheered again.

"Money isn't what I had in mind." Zuko growled, getting in her face. She narrowed her eyes at him. I grabbed Zuko's shoulder and yanked him backwards, away from June. "What are you doing?"

"Let me handle this. I know how to talk to the ladies." I smiled charmingly. Zuko snorted. I walked up to June. "Sorry about my buddy, babe. He can be a bit rough sometimes. What he meant to say was that there's a way you can help us out and we'll consider the damages to his ship paid for."

"If it's a date you want, you're out of luck." She sneered. I shook my head.

"Not a date. We can talk the price in a place a little more private. Out of this rowdy joint." I coaxed. She followed us outside, very unwillingly.

"I need you to find someone!" Zuko blurted out as soon as we were outside. He held up the water tribe girl's necklace.

"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?" June snickered. I laughed out loud. _Zuko? Girlfriend? Ha! Maybe in a hundred years! Everyone knows I'm much better with the ladies than that hotheaded prince._ It thought to myself.

"It's not the girl I'm after. It's the bald monk she's traveling with." Zuko defended. I could tell June didn't believe it.

"Whatever you say." June rolled her eyes.

"If you can find them, we'll consider the damages paid for. And I _might_ just let you go on a date with me." I smiled and flexed my muscles, which couldn't be seen properly because of the guard uniform I was wearing. June laughed.

"Good one." She sneered, getting ready to board her Shirshu.

"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold!" Iroh promised.

"Make it your weight, and we've got a deal." June convinced. Iroh laughed.

"You got it!" Iroh chuckled. "Get on!" June ordered.

"My pleasure." I smiled, taking the spot on the saddle just behind her. "This is gonna be a fun ride." June glared at me.

"Pimp." She insulted. I laughed.

Tikaani's POV:

"There's something I should tell you kids." Bato confessed. "I'm expecting a message from your father." My eyes widened and I looked over to where Katara and Sokka were sitting around a fire.

"Really?" Katara wondered.

"When?" Sokka asked.

"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives, you can come with me and see your father again."

"It's been over two years since we've seen dad!" Sokka exclaimed. "That would be so incredible, Katara!"

"I do really miss him. It would be great to see dad." Katara agreed. Aang was about to get up to leave the room, but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. He shrugged me off and left anyway. I sighed before walking out after him. We walked all the way to Bato's boat.

"I can't believe they would leave me…" Aang whispered to himself. I listened. He hadn't noticed me following him. He looked at the ground until he heard an ostrich horse's call.

"I'm looking for Bato of the Water Tribe." The guy atop the ostrich horse said.

"Uh… I know Bato." Aang replied.

"Make sure he gets this." The messenger stated as he handed Aang a letter. The latter unrolled it to look at it.

"It's the mad to Sokka and Katara's dad!" Aang exclaimed. He crumpled it up and shoved it inside his shirt.

"You need to tell them." I interjected. Aang was so surprised that he jumped off the boat and landed in the sand. "Its not right to keep them from seeing their father. They didn't stop you from talking to Roku."

"But… What if they want to find their father?" Aang asked.

"Then I'll still be here." I told him. "I can still go with you. Plus, if you try to hide it, I'll tell them." I added, just to be sure. Aang didn't say anything. We remained silent as we walked back to Bato's.

"Hey everyone. I'm sorry I was gone so long." Aang apologized. I followed him into the hut and nudged him with my elbow. "I went down to the beach." He continued. "While I was there, a messenger gave me this. It's the map to your father." Aang confessed. I smiled and nodded.

"Aang, that's great!" Sokka cheered, rushing over to us and taking the map. He seemed so excited. There was a bright light in his eyes, but that light dulled almost as soon as it had appeared. "I'm glad you told us, but we're not going to see our father. We already decided that helping you get to the North Pole is more important."

"But you haven't seen your father in years!" Aang exclaimed in disbelief.

"That doesn't matter now." Katara said. "The North Pole is our top priority."

"Thanks guys… That means so much to me!" Aang cried. The three of them were about to do a group hug without me, but I jumped in at the last second.

"Group hugs, everybody!" I cheered wildly, squeezing everyone tightly.

"This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father." Bato declared.

"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka asked.

"Yup. It's got the scar to prove it." Bato pointed out. "How about you, Sokka. You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging."

"He never got to go." Katara piped up. "Dad left before he was old enough."

"Oh, I forgot you were too young." Bato remembered.

"What's ice dodging?" Aang and I asked at the same time.

"It's a right of passage for young water tribe members. When you turn fourteen, you're dad takes you…" Bato trailed off when he saw Sokka's look of hurt and exclusion. "You know what. You're about to find out."

Ice dodging was much more fun than I had expected it to be. I earned the mark of the brave along with Katara. Sokka earned the mark of the wise and Aang earned the mark of the trusted. This time, Aang accepted it, as the guilt of secrecy was not bearing down on him. We all headed back to the village, laughing and carrying on.

"And then it was all like 'WHOOSH!' when we went right over those pointy, deadly rocks!" I exclaimed. We were walking back to Bato's place when I heard loud footsteps. _The shirshu!_ I thought. I turned around to see the doors of the abbey busted open by June's ferocious pet. The shirshu ran over to us. June whipped the shirshu and its tongue lashed out. I dove out of the way just in time, but the tongue struck Bato, Katara, Sokka, and Aang. _Aang? This is not good!_ I widened my eyes as I realized that I'd have to fight them all off _by myself. At least until the nuns make the perfume that reverses the toxins. _I thought to myself.

"Get the avatar!" Zuko ordered. With a flash of her whip, June's Shirshu raced towards Aang. I jumped in the way and the tongue lashed towards me, but I just so managed to get out of the tongue's range. I thought I'd have to dodge it forever. Thankfully, Appa intervened. He bashed his iron-hard skull into the shirshu, sending it and all of its riders skidding across the ground.

"Thanks Appa!" I cheered. Iroh, June, and the shirshu were distracted now, so I only had to deal with Ryuu and Zuko. The nuns were dragging the others towards the hut where they kept their perfumes, so they would be able to fight in a few moments. I just had to hold off two firebenders until then. Both of them blasted flames in my direction, but I ducked, and slapped both of them in the face with waterbending.

"You're going to have to do better than that to beat us!" Ryuu exclaimed, spitting out water as he did so.

"Oh, I can do better." I smiled. I picked both of them up using my water whip, and then hurled them across the abbey. Let's just say I'd been practicing a lot in between episodes. I was no master, but I was getting better. I could control two water whips at once now. It would definitely be enough to hold off two buffoons until Aang was ready to fight Zuko.

"That was a little better." Ryuu tormented as him and Zuko stood to their feet. Ryuu snickered. "But still not good enough." He sneered, kicking a huge fireball in my direction. I dived out of the way, but Zuko threw another fireball. It was heading right towards my face and I was still in midair. I wasn't going to be able to dodge it in time.

Suddenly a gust of air blew in front of me, blocking the fireball. I fell to the ground, a little shaken, but otherwise completely unharmed. Aang jumped in front of me and faced Zuko.

"Your fight is with me!" He exclaimed. They began their face off, eventually ending up at the well in the middle of the abbey. Zuko and Aang did their little dance around the well while I faced Ryuu.

"Are you going to tell me who you are now?" Ryuu asked bitterly.

"I wouldn't have to tell you if you'd just remember." I muttered to myself. Ryuu grunted before hurling three fireballs in my direction. I ducked and turned out of the way to avoid all of them. With every passing second, Ryuu became angrier. I didn't fire a single blow. I just dodged.

"Why won't you fight back?" Ryuu exclaimed, enraged.

"I don't want to hurt you." I responded. I knew that Katara would start her perfume bending soon, so I knocked over a container of perfume and began to spread it throughout the area. June's shirshu lost control. Its tongue lashed out, striking Iroh, June, and Zuko before the shirshu fled.

"Let's get out of here!" Sokka exclaimed, hopping atop Appa. We flew off. I looked back. _Ryuu… When will you remember me?_ I looked at the others. None of them had seen my fight with Ryuu. They didn't know that he was my brother and I didn't plan to tell them. We sat in silence for a while.

"You must miss your dad. I wish I could give you a piece of home, Katara." Aang broke the silence. "Something to remind you-"

"I'll be okay." Katara interrupted.

"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like this!" Aang exclaimed, holding up Katara's necklace. She gasped.

"Aang, how'd you get that?"

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you." Aang smirked.

"Aw, that's so sweet of Zuko!" Katara joked. "Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?"

"Sure!" Aang chimed. Katara kissed Aang on the cheek and he turned scarlet.

Ryuu's POV:

"Ryuu?" Zuko stared at me as I pretended to be paralyzed. June was lying next to me and I had my arm around her. "I didn't see you get hit with the tongue."

"Sh!" I shushed, winking at Zuko. June glared at me with hatred in her eyes.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: The North Pole

**Yes, I skipped a couple episodes. Only some pointless filler ones, though. I skipped 'The Deserter' and 'The Northern Air Temple.'**

Tikaani's POV:

After meeting Jeong Jeong and traveling to the Northern Air Temple, we were heading towards the North Pole. A vast expanse of ocean waves surrounded us and ice jutted out of the water.

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka chastised.

"You complain all the time, so I don't want to hear it." I retorted. "I mean how do you think Appa feels? How would you feel if we all got on your back and made you fly us to the North Pole?"

"I'd love to!" Sokka cheered sarcastically. "Climb on everybody, Sokka's ready for take off." In response, Momo leaped onto Sokka's back. Sokka glared at the small creature in annoyance.

"Look, we're all just a little cranky because we've been flying for two days straight!" Katara intervened.

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here!" Sokka grumbled. I bent some water out of the ocean and made a snowball before chucking it at Sokka.

"We have water and snow and ice!" I chimed. "That's not-" I was interrupted by a shout as an iceberg appeared out of nowhere. Appa swerved to avoid it, but his foot got caught on a piece of ice and he began to head full speed towards the water. As soon as we were safely floating, the water around us froze and some boats came out from behind some icebergs. They were steered by waterbenders.

"They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara exclaimed.

"Actually, they found us." I corrected. The waterbenders led us through the water until we spotted a massive icy wall in the distance.

"There it is!" Aang exclaimed. I looked at the walls. _Is my dad really here?_ I wondered as the waterbenders in the boat let us through. They created an opening in the wall big enough for Appa to swim through and we entered the North Pole. We sailed through the water streets of the city. It was an icy version of Venice. People crowded around the icy sidewalks as we sailed passed. Aang waved happily to the crowds. I didn't join in.

I watched Sokka as Yue's boat went passed. He stared at her and his cheeks went scarlet. _Yes! She should keep me off his mind for a couple episodes. _I thought happily. _I wish I could prevent her death, but there's nothing I can do. If Zhao doesn't kill Tui, then La won't kill him. If Zhao lives..._ I shook my head slowly. _There's nothing I can do to prevent Yue's death. Zhao has to die. He deserves it..._

"This place is beautiful!" Katara mused.

"Yeah… she is…" Sokka sighed happily as he watched Yue. I rolled my eyes as we sailed on. The boats stopped when we reached a large ice palace. Ice stairs lead up to the ice palace. We were beginning to climb the stairs to the ice palace when I noticed a man pushing his way through the crowd of onlookers. He stopped when he emerged from the crowd and stared at me. My eyes started to water. He looked exactly like my dad- my real-life dad. Of course he had been Water Tribe-ified, but it was him.

"Tikaani?" He asked in the voice that I recognized. I hadn't heard that voice since I was twelve years old, since before he lost his mind. "Is it really you?"

"Dad!" I exclaimed, running forward and wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. Tears threatened to fall to the frozen ground, but I wouldn't let them. This was a public place with millions of people watching. I wasn't going to cry in front of them! I suppose I didn't have a choice, as the tears were already making their way down the side of my face. I knew he was crying too. "I missed you _so_ much…"

Ryuu's POV:

"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Four seasons." I strummed away at my pipa as Iroh sung. Music night was one of my favorite nights on the ship. A fire burned and some other crewmembers danced around it. "Four loves, four seasons. Four love-"

"Hello, General Iroh. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." I cut the music as Zhao stepped onto the ship. He was flanked by two guards and I wondered what he could possible want. "I'm taking your crew."

"Its not my crew!" Iroh laughed.

"Then I need to talk with Prince Zuko." Zhao ordered. Iroh and I unwillingly agreed. We led Zhao to Zuko's room. Iroh opened the door and walked in. I followed.

"For the last time I'm not playing the Tsungi horn." Zuko snapped.

"No, it's about our plans." Iroh explained.

"Zhao's-" I began to explain, but the stuck-up admiral interrupted me.

"I'm taking your crew." Zhao informed. Zuko's good eye widened.

"What?" He shouted in dismay.

"I've recruited them for a little expedition for the North Pole. You can keep your peasant, though." Zhao sneered, looking at me in disgust.

"Uncle, is that true?" Zuko asked, looking at Iroh.

"I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone. Even the cook!" Iroh cried, burying his face in his sleeve.

"No, not the cook!" I wailed. "We're all gonna starve!"

"I'm sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the avatar, but I can't have you getting in my way again." Zhao sneered. Zuko charged forward. It took the strength of both Iroh and I to hold him back. Zhao ignored Zuko's outburst. He walked across the room and eyed the Dual Dao swords hanging on the wall. He picked up one sword and eyed it carefully. Zuko looked terrified.

"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." Zhao muttered. I laughed and he eyed me.

"Skilled with swords? _Him_?" I laughed as if he had just cracked the funniest joke I'd ever heard. I wiped a tear from my eye. "Good one, Admiral Zhao! Those are just decorations. Zuko… skilled with swords…" I chuckled and giggled a bit more.

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit and the Dragon Spirit, General Iroh?" The admiral asked, completely ignoring my laughter.

"Just rumors. I don't think they are real." Iroh responded. _If only he knew…_

"They're real all right. They're criminals and enemies of the Fire Nation. But I have a feeling justice will catch up with them soon. General Iroh. The offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." Zhao stated before leaving the room. I was happy to know that Iroh would never accept.

Tikaani's POV:

"Tonight we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, the return of Darek's daughter, and they bring with them someone special. Someone who many of us believed disappeared from the world until now. The avatar!" Chief Arnook announced to the people of his tribe. I was sitting alongside my father, Darek. All day I hadn't left his side. He was telling me of his life in the Northern Tribe ever since I left.

At first he had been shunned by many of his friends for falling in love with a firebender. As time went on, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the Northern Tribe. Now, he was a notable, one of chief Arnook's trusted advisors, and he was a master waterbender. It had taken him years of training with Master Pakku to become a master waterbender. He told me how he had never stopped waiting for my mother to return with Ryuu and I.

After his confession, I had to tell him mine. I told him what Ryuu did, how he had lost his memory of our family. I also told him how the Fire Nation assassin sent to eliminate us killed our mother. He took it rather well. He told me he was glad that at least I was able to come back to him.

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday." Chief Arnook's voice brought me back to the present. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

"Thank you, father. May the great ocean and moon spirits watch over us during these troubled times" Princess Yue said before making her way over to sit next to Sokka.

"Now, master Pakku and his students will perform." Arnook announced, gesturing to the center stage, where Master Pakku and his students were putting on a display of waterbending. I didn't pay attention to the show. I had already decided that my father was going to teach me waterbending. If Pakku was aloud to teach Katara because she's Kana's granddaughter, then my father would be aloud to teach me. I'm his daughter.

Ryuu's POV:

"The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels." Iroh piped up as he entered Zuko's room. I was sitting in the dark corner. I don't think Zuko even knew I was there. I had a good reason to be there, though! I was sulking because I was kind of depressed. I've been flirting with one- or all- of the lady guards and none of them ever took an interest in me! I am one of the most charming, handsome guys I know. I was really hoping for a little lip action before they left.

"Good riddance to those traitors!" Zuko spat.

"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head." Iroh suggested. Zuko didn't say anything, so I decided to.

"No thanks." I mumbled. No one seemed to notice me.

"Or just stay in your room and sit in the dark." Iroh stated. "Whatever makes you happy." He closed the door and left. Soon after he was gone, Zuko spoke.

"What was that?" Zuko asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't hear anything." I didn't move from my seat either. Zuko got up and looked around.

"I heard something. Uncle?" He opened the door to his room and looked out. "Uncle, is that you?" He inquired. I sighed and followed him. _This guy's crazy… He's just hearing things! It's probably a side effect of anger and loneliness. _I followed him up to the helmsman's peak, thinking about how pointless this all was, until I looked out the window and saw an iguana bird.

"Pirates!" I exclaimed, pointing at the bird. Explosions echoed in my ears and suddenly, the world around me was fire. I held out my hands to block the flames from reaching me and I looked around. Zuko and I had created a protective wall of flames around us. The world proceeded to shake and fall apart around us, but we kept up the wall of flames for as long as we could. Another eruption sent us flying through the air and into freezing cold water. Debris from the explosion cut our skin and the water around us seemed to freeze our blood.

I peered through the freezing black abyss, but it was hard to tell up from down and left from right. Suddenly, I felt something tugging on the back of my shirt and dragging me upwards. My head broke the surface and I gasped for air. I looked up at the wall of flames that was Zuko's ship. It was hard to hear anything above the crackling flames. I looked up to see who had pulled me out of the water.

"Iroh…" I looked into the old man's kind and worried eyes before the world around me went black.

Tikaani's POV:

"How's warrior training going?" Katara asked as Sokka entered the tent. He responded by kicking his pillow and collapsing onto the ground.

"That bad?" Aang asked.

"No, its Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute she wants to go out with me and the next, she's telling me to get lost." Sokka grumbled. "So how's waterbending training?" Sokka asked.

"Master poop head won't teach her because she's a girl!" Aang exclaimed.

"Why do you think I train with my dad in secret?" I piped up. "Its against the rules of the city to teach girls how to waterbend. My dad is so awesome! I don't know how I managed to live without him for fo- eleven years." I almost said for years, but this wasn't real life. This was an anime, a show. As much as I hated to admit it... I banned the thoughts from my mind and forced myself to listen to Katara's conversation.

"Your dad is teaching you in secret?" Katara questioned excitedly. "Maybe he can teach me too!"

"No can do. My dad _might_ actually get away with it if we end up getting caught. They might allow it, considering the family relations." I explained. "You on the other hand, could get my dad in real trouble."

"Why doesn't Aang just teach her the moves he learns from Master Pakku?" Sokka wondered aloud.

"That's a great idea!" Katara exclaimed. "Come on, Aang!" They left the tent. A couple minutes later they returned. "We got caught."

"And master poop head is refusing to teach me because I was teaching Katara!" Aang complained loudly.

"Why don't you take it to the chief?" I wondered aloud.

"I will!" Aang declared.

"What do you want me to do?" Chief Arnook asked. "Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"

"Yes!" Katara snapped. "Please…" She added at the last second.

"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." Chief Arnook spat. Katara glared at Pakku.

"Fine." Katara agreed bitterly. She said nothing else.

"I'm waiting little girl." Master Pakku smiled evilly. I wished I had a bag of popcorn. Unfortunately, it wasn't invented yet.

"No. No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Katara shouted. The ground beneath her began to crack and every vase in the room burst open. "I'll be outside if your man enough to fight me!" She challenged before storming out of the room.

"WOO HOO!" I cheered excitedly. "YOU GO, KATARA!" Everyone in the chamber stared at me. I smiled a corny smile before skipping out of the room, singing the '_Underdog_'theme song as I went.

"Are you crazy Katara? You're not going to win this fight!" Sokka said as he followed Katara and I. I took a seat in the front row and waited for Pakku to show up. He walked down the ice stairs.

"So, you decided to show up?" Katara sneered. Pakku completely ignored her and walked passed as if he hadn't heard. "Aren't you going to fight?"

"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong." Pakku retorted, waving his hand as if dismissing her. Katara grimaced. She lashed at him with a water whip as he was walking away. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad? Study closely." Pakku blasted a huge spout of water towards her. Katara leaped right into it, completely unaffected.

The fight ended exactly how anyone would have expected it to. Master Pakku trapped Katara in a cage of ice spears. She couldn't move her hands, so she was unable to free herself.

"This fight is over." Pakku growled. He started walking away.

"Come back here, I'm not finished yet!" Katara protested, still unable to move.

"Yes, you are." Pakku replied. He was walking away, but he stopped when he saw Katara's necklace, which had fallen off during the fight. He bent over to pick it up. "This is my necklace…"

"No it's not, it's mine. Give it back!" Katara ordered.

"I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life. For Kana." The ice cage around Katara melted as Pakku gazed at the necklace.

"My gran-gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara inquired in disbelief.

"I carved this necklace for her when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her." Pakku finished sadly. I felt bad for him, even though he's sexist and stuff.

"But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage…" Katara felt bad for him too, I could tell. "Gran-gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

Ryuu's POV:

"Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing." Iroh explained. It was a miracle that Zuko and I had made it out of that ship alive. Now, by some other miracle, we were working as guards on Zhao's ship. Iroh's plan was a clever one.

"You didn't have to do this." Zuko told Iroh, removing his facemask only temporarily. Both of our faces were cut up and bruised badly.

"I wasn't going to let you two stowaway on a ship without some backup."

"Thank you, uncle." Zuko thanked. A door clanged in the distance.

"Someone's coming. Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the avatar will be yours. Good luck." Iroh was about to walk off, but I called after him.

"Think you can sneak me some jasmine tea?" I asked.

"Without a doubt." He smiled.


End file.
